Movie Review: Compartment Number 6 (2021) on Apple TV or Prime 👎
Compartment Number 6 is a "road movie" that actually takes place on a Russian compartment train. It follows the travel of two strangers--a student (Laura, a Finn played by Seidi Haarla) and a miner (Ljoha, a Russian played by Yuriy Borisov) traveling to the Arctic Circle. (See official movie trailer below, released after it was Grand Award Winner at Cannes in 2021.)
Laura wants to study petroglyphs for her archeology studies. Ljoha wants to get to work, he says to earn money to build a business. They share the small compartment with only a language in common between them. At first Ljoha is brash and clumsy with Laura and she attempts to leave the train at the first stop. But with few resources to help her get along on her own, she returns. He softens his approach to her and they become closer.
As they learn more about each other, learn to trust each other, learn to like each other, a relationship develops. They become companions, united by their common ground rather than divided by what is different. They help each other. The train stops overnight in a small town and Ljoha takes Laura to meet his mother. It's time to move and when they arrive in Murmansk and her long mission to see the petroglyphs falls apart, she goes to the mine to see him. He comes to her aid.
This isn't your typical romance film, but it has those overtones by the end and it loses its claustrophobic feel once Laura is free to be herself in Ljoha's presence and even more so when they become physically and emotionally closer as a couple.
The ending is ambiguous. That's where the film faults and you're left feeling unfulfilled. That's why I gave it a thumbs down. It could have been so much more. You're left to wonder at too many unspoken, unexplained and undeveloped questions. This film could have been so much more. They raised the story to a climax and then let it drop.
Here is the movie trailer via YouTube:
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