Posted yesterday at 11:30 a.m.
Winner of the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival last year (tied with A hero, by Asghar Farhadi), this second feature film by Juho Kuosmanen, set in the 1990s without really clearly identifying them, evokes the state of mind of the end of an era. Through the intimate journey of a woman confronted with herself during a long journey, the Finnish filmmaker, already winner of the Un certain regard prize in 2016 on the Croisette thanks to Olli Makioffers an original film, which takes great care to avoid the clichés usually resulting from an encounter between two beings that “everything opposes”.
It starts with a drunken party in an apartment in Moscow. This is where we meet Laura (Seidi Haarla), a Finn studying in the Russian capital. Interested in archaeology, the young woman decides to go by train to Murmansk, north of the Arctic Circle, to visit a petroglyph site. She was supposed to make this expedition first with her roommate and lover, but the latter being held back by her work, Laura chose to honor the reservation anyway.
Taking place largely inside the train, the story focuses mainly on the meeting, let’s say demanding, between the young woman and the one with whom she will share her cabin during this very long journey. A miner who has to go there to practice his trade, Lloja (Yuriy Borisov) displays from the start his abrasive personality, to which is juxtaposed a serious problem of consumption.
Kuosmanen follows the evolution of the bond that is woven between these two beings in a subtle and original way, without ever following the expected path. The last act of the film, which takes place at the destination, is not predictable either. Carried by the performances of the two actors, truly remarkable, as much as by beautiful ideas of staging, Compartment no. 6 constitutes a great journey at the end of oneself.
Compartment no.6 is showing in theaters in its original version (Russian and Finnish) with English subtitles.
Indoors
Drama
Compartment no. 6
Juho Kuosmanen
With Seidi Haarla, Yuriy Borisov, Yuliya Aug
1:48