{ "id": "ep7r7zybnf", "slug": "subway-1985-film", "title": "Subway (1985 film)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery", "label": "Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.1980s-films", "label": "1980s films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.1980s-films" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery", "label": "Western Europe · 1946 to 2000: Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery", "path": [ { "id": "geo.weu", "label": "Western Europe", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946", "label": "Western Europe · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery", "label": "Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Subway (1985) is a French crime film by Luc Besson starring Christophe Lambert and Isabelle Adjani, about a thief hiding in the Paris Métro; a cinéma du look landmark that won three César Awards.", "snippet": "Subway (1985) is a French crime film by Luc Besson starring Christophe Lambert and Isabelle Adjani, about a thief hiding in the Paris Métro; a cinéma du look landmark that won three César Awards.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.1980s-films", "markdown": "# Subway (1985 film)\n\n**Subway** is a 1985 French crime film directed by [Luc Besson](https://www.edgepedia.org/luc-besson), in which a thief who steals compromising documents from a tycoon's home takes refuge in the [Paris Métro](https://www.edgepedia.org/paris-metro) and falls in with its underground community of misfits and petty criminals.[1](https://www.gaumont.com/en/movie/subway) It stars Christophe Lambert as Fred and [Isabelle Adjani](https://www.edgepedia.org/isabelle-adjani) as Héléna, the disenchanted wife of the man Fred robbed, with Richard Bohringer, Michel Galabru, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Jean-Pierre Bacri, and Jean Reno in supporting roles.[1](https://www.gaumont.com/en/movie/subway) The film was Besson's second feature, following *Le Dernier Combat* (1983), and it is regarded as a pivotal work of the \"cinéma du look\", a 1980s French movement defined by highly stylized mise en scène and a preoccupation with decor and color.[6](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-306/secrets-tournage/) • [10](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/subway-1985-film-review-by-jennie-kermode)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Director and writers | Directed by Luc Besson; written by Besson, Pierre Jolivet, Alain Le Henry, Marc Perrier, and Sophie Schmit[1](https://www.gaumont.com/en/movie/subway) |\n| Release | France: 10 April 1985; United States: 6 November 1985[5](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D306.html) • [2](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/subway/details/) |\n| Runtime and format | 104 minutes, color, French language, Dolby A sound[1](https://www.gaumont.com/en/movie/subway) |\n| Production | Gaumont, co-produced with TF1 Films Production; also credited to Les Films du Loup and TSF Productions[1](https://www.gaumont.com/en/movie/subway) • [9](https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark%3A/12148/cb385208499) |\n| Key crew | Cinematography Carlo Varini; sets Alexandre Trauner; music Éric Serra; editing Sophie Schmit[1](https://www.gaumont.com/en/movie/subway) • [19](https://cinema-francais.fr/les_films/films_b/films_besson_luc/subway.htm) |\n| Awards | 3 César Awards from 13 nominations at the 1986 ceremony: Best Actor (Christophe Lambert), Best Sound, and Best Production Design; also nominated for a BAFTA for Best Foreign Language Film[6](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-306/secrets-tournage/) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090095) |\n| Reception | 75% Tomatometer (8 reviews) on Rotten Tomatoes; Metascore 53 on Metacritic; 6.5/10 on IMDb from about 18,000 users[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/subway) • [12](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/subway/critic-reviews/) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090095) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nFred, a safe blower, steals compromising papers from the home of Héléna, the wife of a wealthy and shady businessman. Pursued by the tycoon's henchmen, he escapes into the Paris Métro, where he hides in back rooms and service tunnels and makes an appointment with Héléna. She comes to the rendezvous, but not alone, and Fred flees deeper into the underground maze while a manhunt is organized.[1](https://www.gaumont.com/en/movie/subway) Down below he encounters the Métro's assorted denizens, including a roller-skating purse-snatcher (Jean-Hugues Anglade), a flower seller (Richard Bohringer), and a police commissioner (Michel Galabru), and assembles a group of aspiring musicians into a band.[1](https://www.gaumont.com/en/movie/subway) • [7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1985/11/22/movies/279dd65f-bda5-4d92-88cc-f3ad8783662d/) Éric Serra appears on screen as the band's bassist and [Jean Reno](https://www.edgepedia.org/jean-reno) as its drummer.[20](https://www.offi.fr/cinema/evenement/subway-25215.html)\n\n## Production\n\nThe film was shot in 1984 over 20 weeks, with most scenes filmed in the Paris Métro itself.[8](https://www.afcs.fr/cine-club/subway/) The RATP, which operates the system, allowed filming only within strict time windows, from 9:00 to 16:00 and from 1:00 to 5:00, and stationed a representative on set; Besson's team had to work around this supervision to stage violent sequences that showed the Métro in an unflattering light.[6](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-306/secrets-tournage/) The underground sets were designed by Alexandre Trauner, the veteran production designer whose work the Gaumont synopsis calls \"magical\".[1](https://www.gaumont.com/en/movie/subway)\n\n**Casting changes.** The couple eventually played by Christophe Lambert and Isabelle Adjani was originally intended for Sting and [Charlotte Rampling](https://www.edgepedia.org/charlotte-rampling); the successive withdrawals of the singer and the English actress led Besson to cast Adjani, whom he had already directed in the music video for \"Pull Marine\", and Lambert.[6](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-306/secrets-tournage/) Lambert had been directed by Hugh Hudson in *Greystoke*, a film not yet released in France when *Subway* was shot, and the success of *Greystoke* made him a screen star before *Subway* reached French audiences.[6](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-306/secrets-tournage/)\n\n## Style and context\n\nThe film opens with a car chase in which a Mercedes full of tuxedoed gunmen rams a Renault driven by Fred, who is occupied with selecting a cassette for his car stereo; the chase ends with the car plunging down the stairs of the Paris Métro.[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1985/11/22/movies/279dd65f-bda5-4d92-88cc-f3ad8783662d/) Reviewers repeatedly identified this sequence as the film's high point and noted that the energy it promised was not sustained by the story that followed.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/subway) • [7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1985/11/22/movies/279dd65f-bda5-4d92-88cc-f3ad8783662d/)\n\nScholarship on French cinema places *Subway* at the center of the cinéma du look, a style defined by spectacular visuals, elaborate framing, and a preoccupation with decor and color, and notes that commercially successful French films of the 1980s such as *[Diva](https://www.edgepedia.org/diva-1981-film)* and *Subway* emulated the fast-paced editing of Hollywood cinema and drew on the imagery of advertising and MTV.[11](https://adelaide.edu.au/content/dam/adelaideuniversity/documents/library/about-the-library/university-press/pdfs/uap-framing-french-ebook.pdf) • [13](https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/files/5433656/Andersson_Haneke_Metro_FINAL_1.pdf) The film's punk-inflected setting also reflected a specific moment: 1985 was a period when punk and post-punk styles were colliding with the Parisian mainstream, and people who did not fit were being pushed toward the banlieues or, figuratively, underground.[10](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/subway-1985-film-review-by-jennie-kermode) One critic's account describes the underground world Fred finds as a multi-ethnic, fraternal France beneath the surface of official culture.[14](https://www.themetropolitan.uk/p/subway-revisited?r=l0u1g)\n\n## Reception and legacy\n\nCritical response was divided between admiration for the film's visual style and reservations about its story. The Tomatometer stood at 75 percent from eight reviews, while the Metascore of 53 reflected a split between positive notices such as Variety's (80, calling it a \"charmingly cartoonish escapade, strong on humor and rock rhythms\") and mixed ones such as Janet Maslin's in The New York Times (60, writing that the film \"appears to have been a good deal more exciting to film than it is to see\").[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/subway) • [12](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/subway/critic-reviews/) [Gene Siskel](https://www.edgepedia.org/gene-siskel) of the [Chicago Tribune](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-tribune) (50) judged its story and characters thinner than a weak episode of \"Miami Vice\".[12](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/subway/critic-reviews/)\n\nCommercially, the film earned about $20 million worldwide against a budget of roughly $2.0 million.[15](https://medias.unifrance.org/medias/219/141/36315/presse/arthur-et-les-minimoys-dossier-de-presse-francais.pdf) • [16](https://cinegraph.org/movies/subway-1985) At the 1986 César ceremony it received 13 nominations and won three awards: Best Actor for Christophe Lambert, Best Sound, and Best Production Design for Alexandre Trauner.[6](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-306/secrets-tournage/) It was also nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Language Film.[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090095) Éric Serra's synth-driven score, which includes the song \"It's Only Mystery\" sung by Arthur Simms, was a Victoire de la musique winner and remains one of the film's most cited elements.[9](https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark%3A/12148/cb385208499) • [17](https://www.on-magazine.co.uk/arts/film-reviews/subway-1985/)\n\nRetrospective assessments treat *Subway* as the film that launched Besson's career and as a precursor of later indie visual styles; one French retrospective notes that the themes of his subsequent films, from beautiful rebellious women to spectacular car chases, are all already present in it.[10](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/subway-1985-film-review-by-jennie-kermode) • [18](https://www.cinefast.com/?p=5549) The film was restored and reissued on 4K Steelbook by [StudioCanal](https://www.edgepedia.org/studiocanal) with new interviews with editor and co-writer Sophie Schmit, actor Jean-Hugues Anglade, and other crew members.[17](https://www.on-magazine.co.uk/arts/film-reviews/subway-1985/)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Subway, Gaumont film page](https://www.gaumont.com/en/movie/subway)\n2. [Subway details, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/subway/details/)\n3. [Subway (1985), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090095)\n4. [Subway, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/subway)\n5. [Subway, AlloCiné film page](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D306.html)\n6. [Anecdotes du film Subway, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-306/secrets-tournage/)\n7. [Paul Attanasio, \"Stalled 'Subway' After a Fast Start, French Film Falters\", The Washington Post, 21 November 1985](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1985/11/22/movies/279dd65f-bda5-4d92-88cc-f3ad8783662d/)\n8. [Subway, Ciné-Club de l'AFC (screening with crew guests)](https://www.afcs.fr/cine-club/subway/)\n9. [Notice bibliographique Subway, Bibliothèque nationale de France](https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark%3A/12148/cb385208499)\n10. [Jennie Kermode, Subway (1985) review, Eye for Film](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/subway-1985-film-review-by-jennie-kermode)\n11. [Framing French Culture, University of Adelaide Press](https://adelaide.edu.au/content/dam/adelaideuniversity/documents/library/about-the-library/university-press/pdfs/uap-framing-french-ebook.pdf)\n12. [Subway critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/subway/critic-reviews/)\n13. [The Métro in French cinema, King's College London research portal](https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/files/5433656/Andersson_Haneke_Metro_FINAL_1.pdf)\n14. [Tobias Sturt, Subway (1985), The Metropolitan](https://www.themetropolitan.uk/p/subway-revisited?r=l0u1g)\n15. [Arthur et les Minimoys press kit, UniFrance (Besson filmography with box office)](https://medias.unifrance.org/medias/219/141/36315/presse/arthur-et-les-minimoys-dossier-de-presse-francais.pdf)\n16. [Subway, Cinegraph](https://cinegraph.org/movies/subway-1985)\n17. [Sarah Morgan, Subway (1985) film review, On: Yorkshire Magazine](https://www.on-magazine.co.uk/arts/film-reviews/subway-1985/)\n18. [Subway, CineFast retrospective](https://www.cinefast.com/?p=5549)\n19. [Subway film credits, cinema-francais.fr](https://cinema-francais.fr/les_films/films_b/films_besson_luc/subway.htm)\n20. [Subway, L'Officiel des spectacles](https://www.offi.fr/cinema/evenement/subway-25215.html)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 1980s films*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/subway-1985-film", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/subway-1985-film.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Subway (1985 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/subway-1985-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Subway (1985 film)](https://www.edgepedia.org/subway-1985-film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/subway-1985-film](https://www.edgepedia.org/subway-1985-film). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Subway (1985 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/subway-1985-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Subway is a French crime film by Luc Besson starring Christophe Lambert and Isabelle Adjani, about a thief hiding in the Paris Métro; a cinéma du look landmark that won three César Awards." }