Transsiberian (2008)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Brad Anderson

Writers (WGA):

Brad Anderson (written by) &
Will Conroy (written by)

Release Date:

24 October 2008 (Spain)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Arrive on time.

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Train | Church | China | Spaniard | Travel

Awards:

2 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Woody Harrelson	...	Roy
Emily Mortimer	...	Jessie
Ben Kingsley	...	Grinko
Kate Mara	...	Abby
Eduardo Noriega	...	Carlos
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

Also Known As:

Transsiberian (Spain)

MPAA:

Rated R for some violence, including torture and language.

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

UK | Germany | Spain | Lithuania

Language:

English | Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital EX

Certification:

Germany:16 | USA:R | Singapore:NC-16 | Netherlands:16 | Finland:K-15 | UK:15 (cut) | Portugal:M/16 | Australia:MA | Mexico:B15

Filming Locations:

Lithuanian Film Studios, Vilnius, Lithuania

Company:

Filmax Group

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: While walking to the old church, even though they are in Siberia in the winter, we do not see their breath when they exhale.

Quotes:

Grinko: In Russia, we have expression. "With lies, you may go ahead in the world, but you may never go back." Do you understand this, Jessie?

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2008-07-19)" (2008)

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.