Train Birds

I definitely enjoyed viewing this film at one of its first showings at Filmfest Hamburg back in 1998. I especially admire the almost documentary-like realism with which the long train trip from Germany to Kemijärvi, Finland is depicted (seems that the ferry company Silja line sponsored the film - after all, its ship gets a lot of footage). As to the story, it seemed rather weird to me despite the fact that my own attitude towards trains and timetables is not so far removed from that of the film's protagonist. And isn't it awkward that this "International contest of train timetable experts" takes place, of all, in Inari, which was never reached by any railway, forcing the participants to take a bus for the last stage of their journey?