An Analysis of Druck and Trains
For the past few weeks, I have noticed the way that Druck shows a lot of trains, and just assumed that someone would make a post about it. Well, no one has, as far as I have seen, so here is a master post of every time Druck shows a train during season 3 and an overzealous analysis of their usage of trains.
Just a few notes before we dive in. I am an American university student who is studying creative writing and has a history of studying and producing film/TV, though I am no longer pursuing that. Basically, that just means I am hyperaware of symbolism and storytelling because my mind has been trained to pick up on this sort of stuff. Also, I am American, so I don’t really have any knowledge of German trains or Germany’s systems of public transit. When I noticed the usage of trains in Druck, I took it as symbolism and expert cinematography, and I still believe that is the case, but there is a chance that I am just overanalyzing this and there trains in so many shots because Germany/Berlin just has a lot of trains! But, like I said, I think there is some good evidence that Druck is doing this on purpose.
All my screenshots were taken from drucktranslations.de, so any subtitles have been translated by then. Not all my screenshots are super high quality, but they get the job done.
Also, fair warning, I am dyslexic, so sorry for any spelling or grammar errors!
The first time we see a train is in episode 1, the Friday clip. The train actually appears during the title screen of the clip, which makes sense because it is the first train. This is the beginning of the Druck train story, so the yellow letter appears over the train.
This is also a really interesting thing that happens with this train that has yet to happen again; in the next shot, we have the POV of the train, as if we are on it. Just hold on to this tidbit.
This train appears in the transitional establishing shots before the Abi prank meeting where Matteo and David hang out for the first time. This conversation is chalked full of foreshadowing about how David just wants to run away. It sets up a lot of things that will continue to pop up throughout the series. We get the first mention of Detroit, and we even get some key information about how Matteo would want to run away— by car.
This analysis is about when trains show up, but that means it is also about when trains don’t show up. Like in episode 2 when we see David and Matteo on a bus.
This bus sense is a direct lift from OG, so one might think that of crouse it had to be on a bus, but Druck has never shied away from making changes. If they wanted, they could have moved this sense to be on a train or even the underground rail system. But they choose to keep this sense on a bus, and here is why.
Trains are a symbol of fear, of running away, of escaping, of negative things. Every time we see a train, it is foreshadowing or symbolizing David running away, letting his fears and insecurities get the better of him so he runs away. Like when the boys get off the bus and a train appears.
When they are on the bus, they are in a good spot, staring at each other, tricking the ticket attendant, laughing together, but then they get off the bus, and the train looms overhead, showing the audience that by the end of the clip, David will run, which he does.
In this shot, the train is technically in Matteo’s line of vision, but he isn’t looking at. He is looking right at David. He is blissfully unaware of the fact that David will run away, and he has no clue why.
We don’t see another train for a little while. In fact, we see some not trains. Now, obviously, there are a lot of clips that don’t have trains in them because they are at school or the flat share, neither of which are close to a train station. (But even this is significant when we realize that David lives right by a train station! But I am getting ahead of myself.) Not all the clips are even eligible to have trains in them because of where they take place. But there is a clip that takes place outside, where there very possibly could be a train, that has no trains in it at all.
Yes, when the boys are running away from the birthday party at the end of episode 4, there is not a train in sight. In fact, they are on their bikes, another mode of transportation. Cars, buses, bikes— these are all modes of transportation that represent good things. Thing like running away together, things like be vulnerable, things like falling in love and being silly.
We see our first train in episode 1, which establishes that trains will be a storytelling motif, then we see our second train in episode 2, which foreshadows David running away. Then we don’t see trains for a whole because is not running away. He is running towards Matteo, actually. Things are good and the boys are growing closer with every clip. That is, until the end of the episode when things go south.
Then the trains really start coming and they really don’t stop.
In the last clip of episode 5, Matteo walks to David’s place for the first time on screen, and we learn that David lives very close to a train.
We see Matteo walking under the train tracks in this shot. It even seems like he might be looking up at them in the next shot, which would symbolize him beginning to understand that David is going to run away, unlike the last time a train was in his field of vision.
The mood is dark, and eerie, which is aided by the song playing, 5% Tint, which I kid you not includes this lyric:
“gotta switch, gotta change up transit”
This clip really signifies a change in the tone of the season, and with it, the transit is changed. We stop seeing as many bikes and buses, and we start seeing trains everywhere. Davis is running away, and there are trains in nearly every outdoor clip.
Just look at this— when Matteo comes back outside and revives the “I’m not into you” text, the is train going by right behind him as he angrily throws his phone to the ground.
Then when he gets back up and begins to cry, the train has passed and he is truly alone. David is gone.
Matteo stays in his apartment for nearly a week after this, so we definitely don’t see any trains during these clips. But, as soon as he does leave the apartment, what is right behind Matteo? You guessed it, a freaking train!
Even with David gone, he is haunted by this motif of David running away. He is messed up over David’s absence, so it makes perfect sense for a train to be in the background as he seeks out more weed. The trains though are a bit more than just David running away. They are Matteo being alone. Being alone is Matteo’s biggest fear, and he just happened to fall for a guy who’s coping mechanism feeds right into Matteo’s fears of isolation. The trains are such a symbol of the pain and heartache that David and Matteo are both going through during this time.
We get a brief respite from this pain in the next clip, when for a brief moment, Matteo is outside and surrounded by cars and bikes, and maybe even buses, instead of trains.
The background is blurry and dark, though, because we aren’t out of the woods yet. The trains are back in a super strong way in the next clip.
Mountains by Sia and Diplo has just picked up, the music is raging, and the clip opens with this shot of two trains passing each other right by a church steeple. (Don’t even get me started on the religious imagery in Druck!)
This instance of trains is particularly interesting for a few reasons. First of all, this is a pretty positive clip. Matteo finally gets the courage to come out to Jonas, and Jonas is totally supportive. It comes after a really hard week, and it was a breath of fresh air to the audience. But there are trains at the beginning of this clip, nonetheless, and this is because Matteo is still in such a fearful place. He is super nervous about coming out to Jonas, and he is desperately afraid of Jonas rejecting him, leaving him alone. This is where the train comes in; his fear of big alone is just as rampant as ever.
But this is also why there are two trains passing each other, not just one train like there has been in every other train shot. There are two trains passing each other to symbolize the story moving on from being solely focused on David and Matteo’s relationship, and moving towards a time in the story where Matteo is vulnerable with more than just David. We get this moment of David leaving and other people entering his life, people who have been there the whole time, but for the first time, they are going to be in Matteo’s real, authentic life. This clip, just like the clip at the end of episode five, symbolizes a shift in the tone and focus of the season.
Then, at then of the clip, we have this beautiful wide shot, not a train in sight.
We actually never see a Matteo focused train after this moment. Matteo’s fears of being abandoned, left behind and alone are largely resolved in this clip, and they continue to be resolved as he goes through the next episode healing. For example, we see no trains in this outdoor clip with Hans.
The next reference to any kind of transportation is the car in David’s drawing in the last clip of episode 7.
This reminds the audience that there are alternatives to trains, there are cars that can carry David and Matteo away to Detroit together. Then, at the end of the episode, we see David and Matteo together again, just like that car foreshadowed.
The next time we have a clip that could plausibly include a train, we still don’t see one. Matteo is sitting by a window after David comes out to him, researching and processing this new information.
Durck could have so easily picked a location with a train in the background, but they chose not to. They didn’t include a train because David is not running from Matteo anymore and Matteo doesn’t want to run from David. They are apart, but neither one of them is truly running away, but at the same time, they aren’t actually running towards each other, so there isn’t really any visual representation of cars, buses or bikes, either. They are in this sort of limbo while they wait for each other to be ready to come together again.
But then the end of the episode comes, and things get even messier. David is outed, and he runs, just like we all knew he would. Every possible sign was pointing towards David running away, and by episode 9, he has actually done this. And not just in a metaphoric way like in episode 5. No, this time he actually takes a train.
Right after Laura delivers this line, a train passes in the background. Also, worth noting, is that the train is, for the first time, truly in Matteo’s line of vision. It isn’t being him, looming over him, or in a shot without Matteo, and he is not ignoring it. He can directly see the train, showing that now Matteo knows what is happening. He knows the full picture; he knows David is trans, he knows why David ran the last time and he knows exactly why and how, and to where, David has run this time.
It is heartbreaking to see this train pass right at this moment, knowing that David has really, really run away. But what isn’t heartbreaking is these two shots; Matteo riding his bike to and from David’s place in this same clip.
Not only is he riding his bike, but there is also no train. We know for a fact that it is very possible a train to be in the background as Matteo goes to David’s apartment because we saw that in episode 5. But this time, it is light, the music is chill and there is no train. Before and after talking to Laura, Matteo himself is not running, and more importantly, he is no longer haunted by the fact that David has run.
We see him living his life in the next few clips, taking his bio Abi and hanging out with the boy squad, and though David is still very much on his mind, he is not afraid and he has moved on from being afraid of David running. He has learned that sometimes David needs space, and he has learned to respect this while still showing David that he cares for him.
Right after Matteo and Abdi have the conversation that echoes these lessons, we see a train go by.
It is blurry, it is distance, it is in Matteo’s field of vision. Matteo knows David has run, and he is still a little concerned that he has abandoned David, but not nearly as much as he could be. The train is blurry because the symbol behind the train motif is starting to disappear. Matteo is no longer afraid of being alone, he understands and respects David’s coping mechanism of running way when needed and David is acutely coming back.
And that is where we are right now. We know David is coming back on Thursday, and we can be 98% sure that David will be coming back on a train. For once, the vehicle that symbolizes running away is going to bring him back. I have seen some people theorize that Matteo may pick David up at the train station, and I really, really hope that will happen. It would be such a catharsis to this train motif. There may even be another clip with a train POV like in the first episode, which would really bring this thing full circle. I am very much looking forward to seeing the reunion for the normal reasons, but also because I am super excited to see where they take this train thing. If there are more trains in the last few clips, I’ll definitely update this or make a new post with the final trains.
I know that I could be reaching. I know that I could be doing that overzealous fangirl thing where I take one little thing and make it into a big thing. I know I could be doing that thing where I take something as symbolism when it is little just trains in the background of shots. But I really do think the Druck has been purposeful with at least some of this. They made the conscious choice to use trains as establishing shots at the begetting of the Friday clip in episode 1 and 6. I don’t think it is a coincidence that Matteo has trains behind him in episode 5 and episode 6, or that David lives so close to a train. They put David on a train, which for the record, is an independent choice they made independent of OG. To me, it seems clear that trains are a symbol of running away, and to a lesser extent, the fear of being alone. It might be a stretch to bring in cars, bikes, and buses as the antitheses to this train motif, but it makes sense to me. I have always been in awe of the attention to detail that Skam and remakes like Durck have. They always put so much effort into every last detail. Every word, every shot matter. This train motif is a perfect example of this. And if I did blow this out of proportion and they actually didn’t mean to use trains as a motif, well, I guess they are really good at making accidental motifs. That, or I am just an embodiment of that “you didn’t connect shit” meme.
Hope that all made sense and you enjoyed reading! Let me know if you have any other thoughts about this stuff!
P.S. Normally, I would put a long post like this under the cut, but I spent way too long on this to minimize the chance of people reading it. If you got this far, I really appreciate it!
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