A train drivers union protested at the the premiere for Mackenzie Crook's latest film Three And Out at London's Leicester Square last night.
The comedy concerns a tube train driver who, after accidentally running over and killing two people, learns that if a third person cops it at the wheels of his train he will be given 10 years full pay.
Train drivers union Aslef feels that the movie trivialises the trauma that's sometimes experienced by drivers.
Aslef representatives handed out leaflets which stated: "deaths on the railway are never funny". Aslef exec and train driver Simon Weller said: "It's a very serious subject for us. It destroys lives. The drivers are never the same again. The film trivialises it. They are saying they have dealt with it sensitively. We don't think they have. We are being portrayed as having a sense of humour bypass, but there are certain things we don't find funny."
At one point a protester shouted to the film's star "Is there any comedy in dying under a train?" To which Crook responded with the rhetorical: "Have you seen the movie?" adding, "then you don't know what it's about."
London Underground gave permission for the film makers to use its facilities after reading the script and also allowed posters for the movie to be put up on the underground, which Aslef feels shows "contempt" for its members.
Aslef are not the only organisation concerned about the film. The Samaritans have also found reason to complain as in the film Crook's character seeks out a potential third victim and finds a man who might be willing to commit suicide.
A Samartan spokesperson said the film, "could further add to the distress of people affected by suicide (including railway staff that regularly come into contact with rail suicides)."
The film's distributors, WBE, responded with the statement: "People who see the film will make up their own minds but we feel that by far the majority will see the difficult issues portrayed in the film have been handled sensitively and Mackenzie Crook's character delivers considerable empathy with Tube drivers who might have found themselves in the unfortunate situation of being involved in a fatality on the line."