The Edge

The action takes place shortly after the end of the Second World War in the Siberian hinterland, among Russians and Germans with damaged personal stories and a strange transformation: the victors seem to be crawling into the skins of the defeated, and vice versa. Ignat, is the embodiment of the larger-than-life image of the Soviet victorious warrior who, in fact, proves to be shell-shocked, sick and broken, although not completely destroyed. Trains become fetish for the heroes of the film, and speed becomes a mania; they virtually become one with their steam engines, while the machines take on human names. The heroes set up an almost fatal race in the Siberian forest, risking their own lives and those of others.

***Locomotive Breath in Siberia just after WW2*** In 1945 a disgraced Red Army train engineer, Ignat (Vladimir Mashkov), is assigned to a Labor Camp in Siberia, which houses former Soviet POWs that Stalin assumed collaborated with the enemy and need “re-educated.” His status immediately wins the affection of the in-house babe (Yulia Peresild), but Ignat sets his eyes on an abandoned steam engine cut off from use because of a washed-out bridge. The problem is a German refugee, Elsa (Anjorka Strechel), is using the locomotive as her residence. Then there’s the issue of getting the engine back across the broken bridge. Released in 2010, “The Edge” (or “Kray” transliterated from Russian) is a Russian film with English subtitles. If you favor (generally) realistic films that deal with trains or the northern wilderness, such as “The Way Back” (2010), “Transsiberian” (2008), “Dr. Zhivago” (1965) and “Runaway Train” (1985), I encourage you to check it out (a quality print is available on Youtube). The film dares to make a German female in postwar Russia a potential heroine and possible love interest. People forget that German citizens like her were just as much victims of the war, which is easy to overlook amidst the horror of Nazi invasion. This is a superb adventure drama with authentic locations and steam engines. It’s simultaneously brutal, adventurous, dramatic and amusing. Train lovers should eat it up. The film runs approximately 2 hours and was shot in Russia. GRADE: B+