Compartment No. 6

Yesterday I went to see Compartment No. 6 at my favorite art house theater (I was very intrigued because it won the Grand Prix at Cannes this year along with A Hero) and I loved it because it is so charming.  Laura (Seidi Haarla) is a young woman from Finland who is studying archaeology in Moscow.  She lives with her lover Irina (Dinara Drukarova), a professor of literature at the university, and she longs to be a part of Irina's cultured and sophisticated world.  They have planned a trip to Murmansk to view some ancient petroglyphs but Irina suddenly backs out and Laura goes on her own.  To her dismay she is sharing a compartment on the train with an uncouth Russian laborer named Lyokha (Yuri Borisov) who is on his way to Murmansk for temporary work at a mine.  She takes an immediate disliking to him and not only tries to get another compartment (to no avail) but contemplates getting off the train at a stop in St. Petersburg.  She ultimately opts to continue and, as her relationship with Irina deteriorates, she begins to see Lyokha in a new light.  Once she reaches Murmansk she is told that it is impossible to get to the famous petroglyphs in the winter so Lyokha goes to extraordinary lengths to get her there.  She eventually discovers that the journey with Lyokha has been more meaningful than the destination.  I loved both of these characters so much because, on the surface, they couldn't be more different but over the course of the journey they come to understand that they have more in common than they realize.  The connection that they form with one another is so warm especially in contrast with a harsh Russian winter.  Haarla and Borisov give wonderful performances, particularly in a pivotal scene when their characters finally acknowledge the pain they both feel, and their chemistry is palpable.  The camera work on the train is very effective at creating a mood and I loved that the titular compartment is incredibly claustrophobic at the beginning of the journey but seems to grow larger and as the characters become more comfortable with each other.  The ending, which is a callback to an amusing moment when they first met, put a huge smile on my face!  This is definitely a slow moving character study but it is brilliant in its simplicity and I highly recommend it.