Trains review – sober documentary explores the liberation of the locomotive

2026-03-19 - 07:09

The advent of the steam age ushered in a great social revolution, but as Maciej Drygas’s film points out, the technology also took us off the rails Like Koyaanisqatsi with an Interrail pass, this often-fascinating documentary – constructed entirely of archival footage, with no voiceover – surveys the sweeping 20th-century changes ushered in by steam trains: a great acceleration of modern society that transformed logistics and leisure, from travel for the masses to war mobilisation, introducing new consumer opportunities and abrupt psychocultural disruptions. As per the 1920s flappers gazing brightly out of the window early on, director Maciej Drygas acknowledges the liberation and optimism offered by the locomotive. But prefaced by a Kafka quote – “There is plenty of hope, an infinite amount of hope ... But not for us” – his proposition seems to be that the technology led us quickly off the rails. The glowering initial sequence, of a steam engine being assembled, is like watching ancient cultists assemble a great Molochian idol. All too soon, newly forged shell casings, to be fired from railroad howitzers, give off unholy light in the black-and-white footage. Full speed to hell. Continue reading...