One of film’s greatest attributes is its unique ability to delve straight into the heart of human existence in roughly two hours flat. Nothing else replicates the medium’s special mix of visuals, writing, and performance in such a succinct and penetrating manner.
Finnish/Estonian/German/Russian film Compartment No. 6 does just that, using an aggressively mundane train ride from Moscow to the frigid Russian port city of Murmansk to spin a beautiful story of two people finding joy and hope through each other.
The film drops you directly into the life of its protagonist, Laura (Seidi Haarla), a Finnish student studying archeology at the University of Moscow. Laura is at a going away party of sorts at her quasi-girlfriend Irina’s (Dinara Drukarova) flat, ahead of her trip to see ancient petroglyphs near Murmansk. She’s clearly uncomfortable, surrounded by self-professed intellectuals who clearly enjoy throwing loud bits of “wisdom” across the room for all to hear. She doesn’t quite fit in, and she knows it, and the tension and stress are palpable.
It works wonderfully to characterize Laura’s headspace leading into her trek to Murmansk. The partygoers view her has no more than a passing interest in Irina’s life; in fact, Irina was supposed to accompany Laura, but she bailed at the last second for ‘work.’ Clearly, Laura latched onto Irina Laura’s in that oh-too-familiar space that many 20-to-30-somethings find themselves in, desperate to find some sort of foundation and validation as to where their life is going.
Laura gets on the train anyway and almost immediately runs into her compartment mate Lyokha (Yuriy Borisov), a young Russian also on his way to Murmansk. He’s headed there for work as a miner, but it’s outwardly not his first choice. Lyokha is abrasive, intrusive, and rude, and his mannerisms, along with the claustrophobic and foreign confines of the train, send Laura spiraling further into internal calamity.
It soon becomes apparent Lyokha is in Laura’s exact situation, albeit in a different corner of the class system. He’s painfully lonely and on his way to another in a line of who-knows-how-many physically taxing and unrewarding jobs. When Laura presents the slightest opportunity for human interaction, he leaps at it.
As the train rolls on, Laura comes to see an earnestness and kindness in Lyokha that slowly pulls her out of her misplaced anchoring with Irina in Moscow. Laura and Lyokha are both experiencing the aching malaise of an early-life crisis, and in each other they find an escape hatch into a brighter future. There are setbacks when one or the other’s vulnerabilities send them scuttling back into their shells, but an undeniably warm relationship blooms to curtail each other’s previously set-in gloom.
All this comes through in subtle filmmaking. The harsh and interminable Russian winter is ever-present, echoing the callous world in which the pair sit. The film is painted with a grainy filter, evocating home video recordings (like those in Laura’s precious camcorder) and creating a tangible texture. And Haarla’s and Borisov’s acting is authentically natural, which allows the audience to fully invest in their literal and emotional journey.
Compartment No. 6 is partly billed as a romance, but it’s not as simple as that. There are fleeting bits of romance, sure, but it’s much more about love in the abstract. It’s two people finding an unexpected connection through shared experience, and it’s a beautiful thing.
