Expresso da Morte

I saw this at the 2011 Palm Springs International Film Festival. This was nominated for a Golden Globe in the Best Foreign Language Film category and was also Russia's official submission to the 83rd Academy Awards. From director Aleksei Uchitel and writer Aleksandr Gonorovsky, The Edge, which in Russian is Kray, meaning the end, was beautifully shot by cinematographer Yuri Klimenko with wonderful set staging by production designer Vera Zelinskaya. Essential to this film is the rapid fire sound by sound designer Krill Vasilenko and buffeted by a a great music soundtrack from Irish composer David Holmes. The story is set in the fall of 1945 at the close of WWII in a Siberian labor camp whose occupants harvest wood and produce charcoal to power the steam locomotives that traverse the Siberian wilderness. Ignat (Vladimir Mashkov) is a Russian war hero suffering from intense migraines who has been sent to the labor camp as a locomotive specialist. He starts up a relationship with Sofia (Yulia Peresild) by stealing her away from her fellow camp boyfriend. Ignat learns of a locomotive stranded in the woods and abandoned for years across the river. He hatches a plan to resurrect it to it's former glory in an anticipated race with his arch rival Major Fishman (Sergei Garmash) who is soon to replace the camps commander. While surveying the locomotive, Ignat encounters Elsa (Anjorka Strechel) a hostile German girl who has been living a feral life aboard the old train since the outbreak of the war. He soon enlists her help to free the locomotive and repair a bridge across the river and in doing so, becomes involved with her in a forbidden Russian-German love affair. It's been reported that writer Gornorovsky and director Uchitl collaborated on an astounding 100 rewrites to bring the script to film with rewrites going on as it was being filmed. It pays off in the final product. Filled with imagery such as the bear, the symbol of Russia, not Soviet Russia but Russia. In a metaphor, Russia the bear is eaten and stripped of it's hyde,cannibalized and crucified. The Edge is the edge of the world and the edge of human relations and human abilities. This is a powerful film like the locomotives it embraces and I would recommend it and give it a 9.0 out of 10.

I watched the whole thing for the sake of the main character, who I REALLY shouldn't have felt was in any way attractive (he's basically a brute). Maybe, if I'd watched it at another point in the month, I'd have felt differently and turned it off instead of watched it until the end, for if I saw such a man looking at me with such a hard, angry expression as he wears most of the time, I'd likely move away from him. I have zero interest in trains, so nothing with them excited me. So, the film became more about the drama between dirty, miserable, mean, predatory people who mostly seemed to dislike each other even when "friendly," in a sexual relationship, doing favors, whatever. Maybe that was the point. That being said, while I hated their discrimination, ignorance, and mob mentality, I feel for people having to live under those conditions, as such conditions help create such people. Ultimately, it was interesting from a cultural aspect. But that's about it. S/N: Also, the Russian girlfriend was pretty and had a nice figure.

I guess this film can be seen as a railroad or train film as some of the reviewers of limited cognitive skills have already observed. And the film's not for anyone who dislikes foreign language films (unless you speak Russian). I love Russian films and this one did not disappoint one bit. But I almost passed on watching it due to some grossly shortsighted reviews left by a larger number of critics than I would have expected.

This unpretentious film is skilfully woven with fascinating period detail from post WW2 1940s Russian life. The well researched film demonstrates understanding and depth in its commentary on Politics and life under Stalin as well as everyday peasant life, the food, clothing, the unique colloquialisms (hopefully genuine) - all were a delight to take in, and I think most who give The Edge a chance will be pleasantly surprised.

Don't look for a complex or sophisticated plot in this film, although the human qualities demonstrated are as visceral and carnal as the large brown bear which appears several times. But the storyline easily hangs together and works quite well as the period vehicle for what it was intended.

Certainly anyone with an interest in trains and locomotives, engineering or physics will enjoy this film, but I feel sorry for the critic who is unable to appreciate the many other delights which the talented director Aleksey Uchitel has given us.

Saw the film last night at the Aero Theater in Santa Monica as part of a special Golden Globe viewing. The subject matter of German/Russian relationships, especially during WWII were some of the darkest moments in either countries histories, so this is not an easy subject for film. I was expecting something dark and brutal, which was not the case. This film utilizes black humor very well, akin to the Czech Film Divided We Fall, but it is not a comedy. The relationship between Germany and Russia before, during, and after WWII, including what the governments want us to believe is skilfully examined via the universal truths of the human experience of the characters in the film. Although this is a Russian film, this does not mean the film is any less relevant to a German audience. You do not need to know a lot of Russian German History to understand the film, but there is one key date you do need to know, that is June 1941, when Germany broke the alliance with Russia and invaded. Great film, hope it wins.

I saw this at the Toronto film festival on September 11, 2010, under the title, "The Edge". I walked in prepared for a heavy dose of Russian gloom. I like Russian literature, especially Chekhov, but I'm always reminded of these lines from a David Massengill song: "What's wrong with the Russians? Have you read their novels? They all die in brothels." In this case, there is nothing wrong with the Russians. This movie grabs you from the start and doesn't let go. Don't get me wrong, this is not a lighthearted movie; it has serious subject matter and complex issues that the characters must deal with . . . and there is plenty of gloom to go around.

Here is the situation in Siberia: At the beginning of World War II, while Stalin and Hitler were still honoring their non-aggression pact, Germans and Russians were co-existing in a remote labor camp. Eventually, Stalin sends his thugs to oust the Germans and declare the Russian inhabitants to be collaborators. At this point the film opens with a young girl running for her life. Four years later, the fighting is over and a Soviet war hero has arrived to work on the town's steam engine. The only Germans left are the illegitimate child of one of the Russian women . . . and don't forget that running girl.

I found myself missing some of the subtitles because I could not take my eyes of the compelling characters and the actors who play them. The standouts are Vladimir Mashkov as the hero and Anjorka Strechel and Yulia Peresild as the women who love/hate him. But his true passion is the steam engine, which he races through the snowy Siberian woods.

The steam locomotive chase sequences are the best put on film since Buster Keaton spectacularly crashed a Union train into Oregon's Rock River in The General (1927). It's as though director Uchitel is rebuilding the train and the bridge Keaton destroyed eight decades ago and a half a world away.

Unlike Keaton's masterpiece, which should have won an Oscar in 1927, this film is Russia's entry into the 2010 Best Foreign Film Oscar competition.