Irina is always talking about petroglyphs
Time for another The Guardian best of list - this time we're starting on the top 50 films of 2022, which I'm very much looking forward to. Well, most of it anyway...
#50 : Купе номер шесть (Compartment No. 6)
Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen directs this answer to Before Sunrise, about an archaeology student who shares a train compartment with a boorish Russian; the pair connect despite their differences.
I really didn't like Before Sunrise, Before Sunset or Before Midnight - so it's safe to say I'm not exactly looking forward to this. I have heard it's good - but I'm afraid that hasn't convinced me in the slightest. But here we go anyway...
Well, well, well - this was a very pleasant surprise. We follow a Finnish archaeology student, Laura (and I'm not sure we ever actually learn her name in the film) as she travels from Moscow to Murmansk "to see the petroglyphs (the what?)". But it's very much about the journey as opposed to the origin or the destination - we see her for only about ten minutes in Moscow before she catches a train. And can you guess which compartment she has? And at the beginning, she's really not happy about her companion in said compartment at all - Ljoha, a Russian miner. And during the journey, they meet various characters - often with them turning out to be not quite what you expect. And, do you possibly think that their relationship might change across the course of the film? It does, but not necessarily in the manner you'd imagine - in fact, I'll take that back because no-one would ever guess how this film ends. It spends far more time in Murmansk than I was expecting and she does get to see the petroglyphs, but it's fair to say it's not the highlight of the film. And then it has a very pleasing anti-climactic ending indeed - which you'll just have to watch so you can go "oh, is that it? oh, actually that was quite nice".
It’s very well written - it's often quite uncertain what’s going on as Laura enters the unknown (and you're not really sure why) and you’re along for the ride with her. And as her relationship with Ljoha changes, he enhances and enables her journey - again without really having the faintest idea why he's doing it. It's also not nearly as talky as I feared - it's a film that knows how to use both silence and absence effectively. Yes, it's a bit cliched at times but it doesn't lean in to the cliches - and at times positively swerves to avoid them (without necessarily making any sense in what it does choose to do).
The film is very much carried by Seidi Haarla (Laura) and Yuri Borisov (Ljoha) and they play their parts well with a much wider range of moods on display than you might expect - both of them have their periods of not being the most likeable people ever, but they're both trying to find their way. It’s fair to say Seidi's role is not a glamorous one - I suspect quite a lot of effort went into making it look like she hadn’t washed for hair for days (this isn't a problem for Yuri though).
It's also a very well shot film - it's not clear that it's actually filmed on a train but it certainly looks that way and it can't having been the easiest, particularly when navigating down a narrow corridor with feet sticking out at all levels. It also makes good use of the countryside available - some shot out of the "train" window and some filmed somewhat more close-up, particularly in the Murmansk region.
So, all in all, this was a very enjoyable surprise - much better than I was expecting, both at face value and, digging deeper, giving you a chance to consider your place in the world and how you interact with those around you. It's not exactly an all-action thriller, but it's nice quiet contemplative movie - if you like the Richard Linklater dullfests or something slightly more exciting, then I strongly recommend this.
At time of writing, it's available to rent or buy in all the usual locations.
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