听 Peter Dinklage stars in the portrait of a loner who dares to open his heart in The Station Agent, a low-key story marked by "a fiercely independent spirit full of discreet optimism and deadpan humour". A hit among audiences and critics alike when it debuted at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival, writer-director Tom McCarthy went on to bag a BAFTA for Best Screenplay along with a slew of other gongs from film festivals around the world.
Laying The Track
Five deleted scenes are infused with the same delightfully poker-faced humour that runs throughout the film. Profound silence is undercut by mundane noise, whether it's Dinklage rhythmically crunching on a basket of potato chips in the Lunch scene, or the clamour of a train that seems to run on forever in The Roof scene. Conversely, The Morning After, played by Dinklage and Michelle Williams, wears its heart on its sleeve - perhaps a hint at why it was cut. Nonetheless it's a tender moment that demonstrates why less is more.
The feature commentary is a buoyant affair, with director Tom McCarthy and stars Dinklage, Patricia Clarkson, and Bobby Cannavale obviously sharing the same sense of humour and camaraderie that pervades the story. According to McCarthy, many of the New York scenes were filmed guerrilla-style, and he managed to get the crew arrested on one occasion while shooting too close to the train tracks. (Don't try that at home kids.)
Trains, A Jeep, And A Streetcar
Dinklage doesn't seem to be too bothered about health and safety issues, revealing he was happy to do his own stunts - leaping out of the way of Patricia Clarkson's jeep for take after take. Apparently it was the culmination of that scene which he most enjoyed shooting, because, as he puts it, "Patty on top of me covered in mud ain't too bad."
Also listen out for Dinklage's Marlon Brando impression from A Streetcar Named Desire when he takes off his wet shirt upon first arriving at the railway depot. Apparently this is the scene that landed him a spot on People Magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" list!
This DVD, like the eponymous hero, is a small package, but it's steeped in the passion of the people who made it. Those who fell in love with the residents of Newfoundland, New Jersey on the big screen won't feel short-changed.
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