Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: COMPARTMENT NO. 6 [AFI Fest 2021 - Virtual]

Journeys of existence and conscience are usually reflected in how life happens. Some are more affecting. Some are just a result of the journey. "Compartment No. 6" [World Cinema] works because it doesn't assume that everyone is good or bad but also that not everyone has an agenda, Laura (Seidi Haarla), a Finnish woman, leaves her girlfriend in Moscow to head out to Murmansk on a train to investigate petroglyphs on a distant shore. Her work as an anthropologist is not infinitely explored but the reality is that she has a passion for it. But her compartment mate is Yadim (Yuriy Borisov),a brutish Russian worker that only seems to want to drink and flirt with her without beinng particularly subtle or respectful. He brings to mind a young Ewan McGregor in his "Trainspotting" days. The back and forth is interesting before a stopover where he bullies her into coming back to his house. She seems disconnected but also her girlfriend seems disconnected and distant when she calls her. Laura exists in an emotion limbo where she is looking for the crux of what she really wants. She says that she doesn't really miss her girlfriend but misses the way she looks at her.

One is never really sure if the person Vadim takes her to visit is his mom but the fact that he stole a car to get them there shows the flaws of the character but also the simple problem solving approach. He is all about instinct but not necessarily about sense. But these acts of larceny only seem to add to his charm since he is so nonchalant about it. The relationship builds in a way but seeing Laura slowly drawn to him but not fully committed since her girlfriend is in the back of her mind, shows an interesting conflict. That is why his reaction and the subsequent back and forth (especially during dinner in the forward car) show a much deeper idea of these people's inner battle of what they want. Vadim is a complicated character and yet very simple while Laura is more straightforward but effective in the path she wants to take. The eventual arrival in Murmansk and the aspect of problem solving which leads them to their final destination makes total sense but endears Vadim because it is not about sex (though it could be). It is not about play (though it could be). And as they are sitting on the desolated hull of an old cargo ship, it is the realization that these are just two people being there for each other in different ways. B

By Tim Wassberg