As the credits appear at the end of the movie, it turns abruptly into what it was always longing to be: a musical. The bright colours and the noise become decor and disco. The railway station, once the location of panic and poverty and violence, becomes scenery. The beat is heavy and fast, the hero and heroine line up together, happily stomping and pumping in the front row of a vast dancing crowd; everyone's moves are vivid and complicated and beautifully choreographed. Even the trains look as if they want to get in on the act.

LRB 12 February 2009 | PDF Download