Compartment no. 6

In the early 1990s, young Finnish archaeology student Laura boards a train from Moscow to Murmansk in Russia’s far north; her goal is to look at some ancient rocks. In her cheap shared sleeper cabin she’s dismayed to find a vodka-swilling, trash-talking young Russian, Ljoha, who is heading to work in the mines. They have 1200 miles and two days together, a worrisome prospect at first, but what transpires between them is warm, surprising, and achingly human. Pre-smartphone loneliness has never felt so lovely.

‘I think the starting points were the scenery, the train, Russia and the human connection between these two very different characters. The [source] book has a Finnish protagonist, so as a Finn, I feel I have the licence to do it. I was fascinated to be able to make a film on Russian soil; it’s a country I’ve visited many times, also by train, to Saint Petersburg, to Moscow, and even to Ulaanbaatar, so I got to see a lot of it. I like the way the country looks, I like the people, I like trains, and I really like train films.’

Director Juho Kuosmanen, from an interview with Cineuropa.