The Edge

Back to Siberia....
This movie is about an isolated labor camp in Russia. A war vet chooses the camp because he wants to continue to pilot trains, but he has been deemed unfit by his superiors. Out in the middle of nowhere, he figures he'll find his last chance. He does and that's what this movie centers around. Of course they try to squeeze in a bit of romance, but the whole premise is boring. I did watch the entire film. Its ok for what it was. The only Russian language film I have ever seen. It's probably the only one I ever will see.

builds steam but.....
The characters are two-dimensional for my taste. However it is no worse than many other american films with the focus on what's going on than a relationship.That it is full of colourful Russian characters makes up for it somewhat.
Despite this complaint it is more likely to be a 4 star film as it is well made with good photography and direction. This is a solid film with great scenes of snow bound forests and an iron beast ( - the steam train and a pleasing spirit-mascot in a large bear)
Thankfully it is not a depressing film about camps and broken spirits but about endurance and care.

Well worth watching
I didn't know what to expect with this movie. I was very pleasantly surprised. I rated it 5 stars and hopefully this will attract some attention. It is probably a four star movie, but given that it is up against all the popular Hollywood fare, it is not unreasonable to give it a bit of a push. First of all for train fans, it does have trains. They are a central part of the story. Set in Siberia, in World War II, refugees of all types try to find their way. A romantic triangle of sorts, with individual Russians and Germans trying to find their ways through the mess they are in, provide the raw materials for this reflection on life, war, and morality or more accurately, the making of ethical decisions. And there are some great scenes of the beauty of the countryside, mixed in of course with the brutal conditions under which people are trying to survive. I am not a film critic, but the directing, story line, acting, etc., all seemed to be top notch.

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