SUBWAYStories: Tales from the Underground (1997) (TV)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Directors:

Bob Balaban
Patricia Benoit
(more)

Writers:

Adam Brooks (segment)
John Guare (segment)
(more)

Release Date:

17 August 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Every ride is as unpredictable as the city itself.

Plot:

The actual experiences of New York City subway riders are dramatized in a collection of 10 intriguing and very different vignettes...

Plot Keywords:

Subway | New York | Train | Anthology

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Bill Irwin	...	Himself (segment "Subway Car From Hell")
KRS-One	...	Vendor (segment "Subway Car From Hell") (as Kris Parker 'KRS-ONE')
Tina North	...	Grandmother (segment "Subway Car From Hell")
Paul Lazar	...	Mr. Nervous (segment "Subway Car From Hell")
Andre B. Blake	...	Knish Buyer (segment "Subway Car From Hell")
Anthony S. Calypso	...	Knish Buyer (segment "Subway Car From Hell")
Robert W. Castle	...	Knish Buyer (segment "Subway Car From Hell")
Marlon Cherry	...	Musician (segment "Subway Car From Hell")
Carl J. Ferrazza	...	Hot Dog Buyer (segment "Subway Car From Hell")
Daniel Freedman	...	Strange Man (segment "Subway Car From Hell")
Marc Mueller	...	Musician (segment "Subway Car From Hell")
Simon Seven	...	Musician (segment "Subway Car From Hell")
Joe Toutebon	...	Knish Buyer (segment "Subway Car From Hell") (as Joseph Toutebon)
Daniel Wolff	...	Knish Buyer (segment "Subway Car From Hell")
Mari Danzi	...	Girl Dancer (segment "Subway Car From Hell")
Lara McFarlane	...	Girl Dancer #2 (segment "Subway Car From Hell")
Angie Utt	...	Distinguished Rider (segment "Subway Car From Hell")
Audrey Meyers	...	Distinguished Rider (segment "Subway Car From Hell")
Denis Leary	...	Guy in Wheelchair (segment "The Red Shoes")
Christine Lahti	...	Red Shoes Woman (segment "The Red Shoes")
N'Bushe Wright	...	Young Girl (segment "The Red Shoes")
Kevin Corrigan	...	Writer (segment "The Red Shoes")
Marie Barrientos	...	Ragged Woman (segment "The Red Shoes")
O.L. Duke	...	News Seller (segment "The Red Shoes")
Ellen Gould	...	Shopper (segment "The Red Shoes")
John C. Vennema	...	Executive (segment "The Red Shoes")
Sixto Ramos	...	Security Guard (segment "The Red Shoes")
Erika Greene	...	Nurse (segment "The Red Shoes")
Steve Zahn	...	Tucker (segment "The 5:24")
Jerry Stiller	...	Old Man (segment "The 5:24")
Bonnie Hunt	...	Fern McDermott (segment "Fern's Heart of Darkness")
Richard Spore	...	White Man (segment "Fern's Heart of Darkness")
Mekhi Phifer	...	Man in Hallway (segment "Fern's Heart of Darkness")
José Ramón Rosario	...	Transit Worker (segment "Fern's Heart of Darkness")
Nancy Ticotin	...	Business Woman (segment "Fern's Heart of Darkness")
John Ford Noonan	...	Blanket Man (segment "Fern's Heart of Darkness")
Lili Taylor	...	Belinda (segment "The Listeners")
Michael Rapaport	...	Jake (segment "The Listeners")
Israel Horovitz	...	Older Man (segment "The Listeners")
Mercedes Ruehl	...	Leyla (segment "Underground")
Zachary Taylor	...	Wayne (segment "Underground")
Peter Sarsgaard	...	Boy #1 (segment "Underground") (as Peter Scarsgaard)
Jeremy Jordan	...	Boy #2 (segment "Underground")
Bruce Smolanoff	...	Boy #3 (segment "Underground")
Rob Clasen	...	Boy #4 (segment "Underground")
Jay Bailey	...	Subway Musician (segment "Underground")
Sarita Choudhury	...	Humera (segment "Honey-Getter")
Nicole Ari Parker	...	Sharon (segment "Honey-Getter")
Ajay Naidu	...	Prashant (segment "Honey-Getter")
Danny Hoch	...	Edward (segment "Honey-Getter")
Steven Randazzo	...	Officer Mulioli (segment "Honey-Getter")
Gi Shen	...	Subway Musician (segment "Honey-Getter")
Kenny Garrett	...	Sax Player (segment "Sax Cantor Riff")
Sam Rockwell	...	Man Eating (segment "Sax Cantor Riff")
Sol Frieder	...	Old News Man (segment "Sax Cantor Riff")
Tammi Cubilette	...	Denise (segment "Sax Cantor Riff")
Kavi Ladnier	...	D'Jamila (segment "Sax Cantor Riff") (as Kavitha Ramachandran)
Bruklin Harris	...	Dorcas (segment "Sax Cantor Riff")
Taral Hicks	...	Woman with Flowers (segment "Sax Cantor Riff")
Dan Rous	...	Jewish Cantor (segment "Sax Cantor Riff")
Will Hare	...	Homeless Man (segment "Sax Cantor Riff")
Rosie Perez	...	Mystery Girl (segment "Love on the A Train")
Mike McGlone	...	John T (segment "Love on the A Train")
Gretchen Mol	...	The Wife (segment "Love on the A Train")
Gregory Hines	...	Jack (segment "Manhattan Miracle")
Anne Heche	...	Pregnant Girl (segment "Manhattan Miracle")
George T. Odom	...	Miracle Old Man (segment "Manhattan Miracle") (as George Odom)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Roxanne Amandez	...	Woman on train (as Roxanne Wagner)
Stacie Kellie	...	Commuter
Gloria Sauve	...	Green family Daughter
John D. Bair	...	Russian commuter (uncredited)
Christopher Del Gaudio	...	Guy with Beret ("Subway Car From Hell") (uncredited)
Adrian Lee	...	Commuter (uncredited)
Steve Nuke	...	Poley (segment "Love on the A Train") (uncredited)
Frank Turek	...	Passenger (segment "Subway Car From Hell") (uncredited)

Directed by
Bob Balaban		(segment "5: 24, The")
Patricia Benoit		(segment "Fern's Heart of Darkness")
Julie Dash		(segment "Sax Cantor Riff")
Jonathan Demme		(segment "Subway Car from Hell")
Ted Demme		(segment "Manhattan Miracle")
Abel Ferrara		(segment "Love on the A Train")
Alison Maclean		(segment "HOney-Getter")
Craig McKay		(segment "Red Shoes, The")
Lucas Platt		(segment "Underground")
Seth Zvi Rosenfeld		(segment "Listeners, The") (as Seth Rosenfeld)

Writing credits
Adam Brooks		(segment "Subway Car from Hell")
John Guare		(segment "The Red Shoes")
Lynn Grossman		(segment "The 5: 24")
Angela Todd		(segment "Fern's Heart of Darkness")
Seth Zvi Rosenfeld		(segment "The Listeners") (as Seth Rosenfeld)
Albert Innaurato		(segment "Underground")
Danny Hoch		(segment "Honey-Getter")
Julie Dash		(segment "Sax Cantor Riff")
Marla Hanson		(segment "Love on the A Train")
Joe Viola		(segment "Manhattan Miracle")

Produced by
Jonathan Demme	....	executive producer
Richard Guay	....	producer
Rosie Perez	....	executive producer
Edward Saxon	....	executive producer
Valerie Thomas	....	producer
Victoria Westhead	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Mecca Bodega

Cinematography by
Tom Hurwitz		(segment "Red Shoes, The")
Tony C. Jannelli		(segment "Subway Car from Hell") (as Anthony Jannelli)
Ken Kelsch		(7 of 10 segments)
Adam Kimmel		(segment "Manhattan Miracle")

Film Editing by
Angelo Corrao		(segment "5: 24, The") (as Angelo Correo)
Andy Keir		(segment "Subway Car from Hell")
Elizabeth Kling		(segments "Fern's Heart of Darkness", "Sax Cantor Riff", "Love on the A Train")
Colleen Sharp		(segment "Red Shoes, The")
Donna Stern		(segment "Listeners, The")
Jeffrey Wolf		(segments "Underground", "Honey-Getter", "Manhattan Miracle")

Casting by
Sheila Jaffe
Georgianne Walken

Production Design by
Ed Check		(as Edward Check)

Set Decoration by
Carol Silverman

Costume Design by
Donna Berwick

Makeup Department
Dionne Alexander	....	hair stylist: Ms. Perez
Judy Chin	....	key makeup artist
Daisy Curbeon	....	additional hair stylist
Annie M. DeMille	....	key hair stylist (as Annie de Mille)
Bella Sirugo	....	additional makeup artist

Production Management
Victor De Jesus	....	production supervisor
Eitan Hakami	....	post-production supervisor
Victoria Westhead	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Stephen Booth	....	second second assistant director
Lisa Janowski	....	second assistant director
Todd Pfeiffer	....	first assistant director (as Todd R. Pfeiffer)
Jonathan Starch	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Victor Littlejohn	....	key on-set dresser
Ben Telford	....	assistant art director
Mark Bachman	....	sign designer (uncredited)

Sound Department
Evan T. Chen	....	assistant sound editor
Lewis Goldstein	....	supervising sound editor
William Sarokin	....	sound mixer
Reilly Steele	....	sound re-recording mixer
Allan Zaleski	....	assistant sound editor
Dustin DuPilka	....	assistant foley artist (uncredited)

Stunts
Damian Achilles	....	stunts
Jay Lee Carrado	....	stunt double: Wayne (as Jay Carrado)
Jeff Ward	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Bill Almeida	....	electrician
Tim Davies	....	grip
Shaun Gilbert	....	electrician
Dennis A. Livesey	....	first assistant camera
Jamie A. Marlowe	....	camera loader
Michael Marzovilla	....	gaffer
Don Muchow	....	gaffer
Mark Schwentner	....	best boy electric
John Velez	....	electrician

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Lynne Maureen Curtis	....	wardrobe supervisor
Michelle Martini	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Molly Bernstein	....	associate editor
Jason Block	....	post-production assistant
Keith Croket	....	assistant editor (segment "The Red Shoes")
Andy Keir	....	supervising editor (segment "Subway Car from Hell")
Lara Khachooni	....	assistant supervising editor

Music Department
Mecca Bodega	....	musician
Tod Holcomb	....	music editor
Alex Steyermark	....	music supervisor

Other crew
Albertine Anderson	....	special events coordinator: MTA
Neda Armian	....	assistant: Jonathan Demme
Marcus Book	....	special events coordinator: MTA
Andrea F. Cannistraci	....	production legal
Luis A. Colon	....	production assistant
Nicholas Corrao	....	production assistant
Liz Dykhouse	....	post production accountant
Alan Grabelsky	....	vice president production
Keegan Martin	....	production assistant
Margo Myers	....	production accountant
Exile Ramirez	....	production assistant
Dawn Murphy Riley	....	production coordinator
Dwayne Alexander Smith	....	location assistant (as Dwayne A. Smith)
Miura Smith	....	assistant to producer
Mary Tobler	....	assistant to producer
Al Valentine	....	location manager
Holly Watson	....	assistant: Richard Guay
John D. Genovese	....	assistant to production executive (uncredited)
M.J. Magbanua	....	assistant production coordinator (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Clinica Estetico
• HBO NYC Productions
• Ten in a Car Productions

Distributors

• Home Box Office (HBO)
• LK-TEL (2007) (Argentina) (DVD)
• mediacs AG (Germany) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Subway (UK) (DVD box title)

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Canada:14+ (Ontario) | Iceland:L | Argentina:16 | Germany:12 | USA:R | UK:15

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Clinica Estetico

Trivia:

HBO held a contest asking New Yorkers to submit interesting true stories that happened on the subways. The winning stories were then adapted for the film.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The Prospect Park station in Brooklyn is open cut (in a trench open to the sky), not cut and cover (underground tunnel) like Manhattan stations.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Short Film About the Long Career of Abel Ferrara (2004) (V)

A mixed bag of short stories that is mainly interesting and enjoyable

HBO invited the citizens of New York to send in their stories and experiences of travelling on the subway system – 1000's did. From these, this film was produced, using the real experiences of day to day travel to inspire this anthology of short stories. Starting with a man who learns the hard way the importance of following the crowd, the film continues with the Vietnam veteran who gets a backlash from the passengers, a woman trapped in a turnstile, a man conducting an affair on a train and a man who starts getting stock tips from an old man riding the morning train each day.

Not getting HBO in the UK, we are pretty reliant on what is imported by other channels; many of the biggest shows make it of course but it is less common for the many cable movies made by the station to reach the UK. So it was with surprise that I found somebody had bought this collection of stories and stuck in the late night schedules to be mostly overlooked and ignored. Loving short films as a type of movie experience I wanted to give this a try and I wanted it to be good and, on the whole, it was pretty enjoyable and interesting. Some of the stories are very basic or reveal their all as easily as a paid dancer and these tend to be the lesser films even if they do still have some merit.

However the films that stood out in my mind are those that capture the randomness of life in a big city, where things happen quickly that can't be repeated or ever relived, where you don't know all the answers and it is more than just a funny story that happened. A couple of the shorts here hit this on the money and are interesting and yet leave you not knowing everything so that it does linger with questions and so on. It is these couple of shorts (Miracle Manhattan, 5:24, Love on the A Train, The Red Shoes in particular) that make the film worth seeing even if the other ones are fairly ordinary and only really watchable without being special (Fern's Heart of Darkness and Sax Cantor Riff to name two).

The cast is impressive even if they are not all used that well and the quality of performances does rather depend on the material. Not to rate everybody but; KRS-One was a surprise but did the job; N'Bushe Wright was good; Denis Leary was impressive and convincing; Zahn was unusually understated as indeed was Stiller; I don't understand why Mekhi Phifer bothered to show up considering all he got out of it; Taylor and Rapaport make an average film better; Rockwell is an interesting find with nothing to do; Perez isn't annoying (is there higher praise than that?); Heche is shot in the distance and hard to make out and has her short stolen by a good turn from the late Gregory Hines. The rest are OK in support but really the film is more about the stories than the cast and weak stories aren't greatly improved even when they do have a good cast here.

Overall this is an interesting collection and I'm glad I saw it. There are no really bad entries but one or two are fairly ordinary and I wouldn't rate them if they had been short films in their own right; however the majority are actually well done, interesting stories that snapshot memories and half stories to be interesting and leave the audience curious but, like the train, forced to move along and take what we can from them. Not a brilliant collection by any means but the good outweighs the average and it is worth seeing if you get the chance.