Boxcar Bertha 4K 1972 Ultra HD 2160p

During the Great Depression, union leader Bill Shelley becomes the head of a gang of train robbers to take revenge on the railroad executives. In doing so, he establishes his authority and wins the heart of Bertha Thompson, a young woman nicknamed “Freight Car.”

User Review

In his youth, Martin Scorsese was even “worse”—even more obsessed with cinema and candor. Drawing on a thematic interpretation of *Bonnie and Clyde*, he weaves a tale of personal struggle and rejection of established norms. An exploration of the causes of sociopathy and its consequences. As for David, whom the director compares to either Jesus or Barabbas, he delivers one of the best performances of his career.

Literally within the first ten minutes, Scorsese unleashes his full emotional intensity on the audience. Take note of a fairly simple scene—Berta climbs onto a moving freight train. Nothing special, but just look closely at how many angles the scene was shot from. Notice how flawlessly everything is edited and how close-ups and wide shots blend together. Moreover, in this same ten-minute segment, we witness a swift seduction scene—Cerradino doesn’t need much time to lure Barbara Hershey’s character into a restaurant, and she doesn’t hesitate for long. Quick and matter-of-fact. But that’s Scorsese—he won’t forget to fully undress Barbara in front of the audience either. She had a beautiful youth. And I perfectly understand Scorsese’s verve.

From here on, everything will be much more mundane and predictable. It’s worth remembering that the producer of this film was Roger Corman, who gave many people a chance but also demanded adherence to a certain style. Yet even here, Scorsese manages to insert a brutally violent scene where gangsters shoot union activists, with the full cooperation of the police.

However, the brutal finale unleashes all the internal power of napalm. I’ll remember it for the rest of my life—the courageous Bernie Casey, delivering the best performance of his career as an encore, the disheveled Hershey, and the spiritual David. As unexpected as the biblical subtext was here, Martin got everything just right. It turned out very effectively.

In my opinion, the key to the film is the scene where the hero, Carradine, meets the railroad boss. The self-assured man begins to quote the Sermon on the Mount, and Carradine shows that he understands what is being said by finishing the quote. But he isn’t quite accurate. Embarrassed and making excuses, he can only point to his gun, adding, “This is my Bible.” In this simple way, we get not only a reference to good old Jules from *Pulp Fiction*. We get a fundamental conflict in the protagonist’s worldview, leaving no room for paths to salvation. And the quote goes like this: ‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal’

Info Video

Codec: HEVC / H.265 (79.8 Mb/s)
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Info Audio

#English: FLAC 2.0
#English: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Commentary by Film Critic Adrian Martin)

Info Subtitles