Transsiberian (2008)

A Trans-Siberian train journey from China to Moscow becomes a thrilling chase of deception and murder when an American couple encounters a mysterious pair of fellow travelers.

Director:

Brad Anderson

Writers:

Brad Anderson, Will Conroy

Stars:

Woody Harrelson, Emily Mortimer, Ben Kingsley

2 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Woody Harrelson	...	Roy
Emily Mortimer	...	Jessie
Ben Kingsley	...	Grinko
Kate Mara	...	Abby
Eduardo Noriega	...	Carlos Ximénez
Thomas Kretschmann	...	Kolzak
Etienne Chicot	...	Frenchman
Mac McDonald	...	Minister
Colin Stinton	...	Embassy Official
Perlis Vaisieta	...	Manager Hotel Pushkin
Mindaugas Papinigis	...	Young Detective
Mindaugas Capas	...	Military Officer
Visockaite Sonata	...	Female Train Attendant #1 (as Sonata Visockaite)
Larisa Kalpokaite	...	Female Train Attendant #2
Valentinas Krulikovskis	...	Young Waiter

Storyline

Americans abroad. Roy and Jessie finished a volunteer stint in China. He loves trains, so they go home via the Trans-Siberia Express. There are strains in the relationship, including her past. They meet Carlos, a Spaniard, traveling with Abby, a young American. Carlos keeps close to Jessie, and when Roy is left behind and waits a day for the next train so he can catch up, Jessie and Carlos take a trip into the dead of winter to photograph a ruined church. Carlos may be running drugs, so, later, when Roy catches up and introduces Jessie to his new pal, an English speaking Russian narcotics detective, he's the last person Jessie wants to see. Will the Siberian desolation be their undoing?

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Plot Keywords:

train | china | church | spaniard | travel | 

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Taglines:

You can't escape your lies.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some violence, including torture and language

Details

Official Sites:

First Look Studios Official site [de]

Country:

Spain Germany UK Lithuania

Language:

English Russian Spanish Chinese French

Release Date:

24 October 2008 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Expresso Transiberiano

Filming Locations:

China

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$34,615 (USA) (18 July 2008)

Gross:

$2,203,641 (USA) (7 November 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Filmax International, Canal+ España, Filmax Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital EX

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was partly inspired from director Brad Anderson's youth when he did in fact ride the Transsiberian Express.

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Goofs

After the train collision towards the end of the film, Jesse is carried off in a stretcher. An oxygen mask is placed over her face. The hand of a medic is seen squeezing the airbag. In a real medical situation, there is no need to squeeze the bag for someone who is already breathing. In fact, it could be dangerous.

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Quotes

Jessie: [to Roy, about him trying to get her to stop smoking] Kill off all my demons, Roy, and my angels might die too.

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Connections

Referenced in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: Episode #7.126 (2009)

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Soundtracks

"Love Will Keep Us Together"
Written by Neil Sedaka & Howard Greenfield
Performed by Captain & Tennille

User Reviews

Wow! Like a Hitchcock Classic!

2008 Sundance Film Festival ★ ★ ★ ★ (out of four)

My favorite movie from the first day of Sundance 2008. Roy (a very young-looking Woody Harrelson) and Jessie (Emily Mortimer) are a young Iowa couple, returning from a church humanitarian mission in China via the Transsiberian Express, where they encounter the much more adventurous Carlos (Eduardo Noriega) and Abby (Kate Mara). Boarding mid-way is Ben Kingsley, who we have learned from the opening scene is a Moscow police detective.

Like a Hitchcock classic, we are grabbed from the start with a feeling that things are not all as they seem, and don't lose that uneasy feeling that something very bad is going to happen until bad things really start happening. The tension is eerie and relentless, with telling glances and social conversation that suggest the relationships between these four are going to take a disturbing turn. Written by Director Brad Anderson (The Machinist), and inspired by a Transibberian trip he once took, the script is inspired and very tight, the characters infused with extraordinary depth and interest, the Russian state a harrowing umbrella and the dialog consistently powerful and compelling. (My favorite line, from Ben Kingsley, goes something like this: "We have a saying in Russia: You can always go forward with a lie, but you can never go back.")

As Anderson said in the Q&A, the confined spaces of trains make for heightened drama. Shot in Lithuania, the cinematography is haunting, capturing the mysterious, bleak and unsettled state of post-Soviet Russia, which makes for a marvelous backdrop to the action.

This movie should do well in national release. Maybe very well.

Sundance Moments: Brad Anderson and all the principals of the cast were at the Sundance premiere. More so than usual, they all praised Anderson as an extraordinary and meticulous director, one of the greats. Ben Kingsley noted that what attracted him to the movie, besides the Russian sub-story, was that the characters were archetypes and not caricatures, which is quite true. Anderson talked about how bitterly cold it was shooting in Lithuania.