One of the most subtly moving films I have ever seen.It doesn't tell you what to think, it doesn't tell you what to feel; it doesn't tell you anything at all. And for some people that is unbearable. But, it gives you everything.This film, widely forgotten by many yet passionately loved by a few, ends with a poem which has proved presciently self-referential:Lo! some we loved, the loveliest and best That Time and Fate of all their Vintage prest, Have drunk their Cup a Round or two before, And one by one crept silently to Rest. --The Rubaiyat of Omar KhayyamI am glad films like this were once able to be made. Perhaps they still can be made, I don't know. This one is a beautiful gem.

I really wanted to like this movie. The visuals are spectacular and the filler shots of vintage Los Angeles are amazing. A lot of work and care went into crafting all of the visuals, from the scenery to props and the whole railroad itself. The story has some serious possibility, even being based on an actual railway (the Yosemite Valley RR did exist and ended operations in 1945 and an 18 yr old kid named John McFadden who worked at the Pacific Electric Railway DID try to save the RR). But, alas, that's where it ends. The acting was painfully flat and almost felt like a first reading of a script at a high school play. None of the characters were even very compelling, except the YVRR itself. There were a couple of throw away scenes that depicted the racism against Asians, but they could have easily landed on the cutting room floor with no loss to the movie. The soundtrack is appropriate, but the abysmal acting kills this movie. It breaks my heart to say it, but with just better acting and a slightly better script and you have a great love letter to railroading history.

I remember seeing this at the Toronto Film Festival in 1996, in the then still small Varsity 1 Cinema on Bay & Bloor (the teensy Varsity 1 was a great place to see a movie, being the place where I saw "Dawn of the Dead" for the first time, y'know, the censored version) - What can I say about "Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day" ? It is very dull, not unlike watching paint dry, or attempting to summarize Proust.I have no idea what the director Christopher Munch was getting at with this plodding, though beautifully photographed film; he has a knack for making very slowly-paced films, witness his first film, the fairly impressive "The Hours and the Times", which was about an imagined (though frequently rumoured) affair between Brian Epstein and John Lennon - That film is scarcely an hour long, but seems much longer."Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day" has something to do with trains, as far as I can recall (I fell asleep), and it's 87 minutes seem like an eternity; bonus points for an odd Micheal Stipe performance, where he seems to be channeling Andy Kaufman.

Black and white film making is elevated into the heavens with Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day. The story of a young Chinese- American struggling to resurrect the historic Yosemite Valley Railroad is a visual treasure. Unlike the brilliant black and white DP's of film noir, this film gives new energy to the screen. The slow pace of the story might put off some, but the pace is perfect for allowing the viewer to look behind the action at the lush setting of the Yosemite park.