Roy and Jessie, a couple dedicated to charity and who faithfully follow their parish, find themselves having to travel the Trans-Siberian Railway on their way back from a charitable mission in China. On the train, the two meet and befriend the ambiguous couple formed by the young Carlos and Abby, who smuggle matryoshka dolls. The journey, which initially seems serene and pleasant, will soon take an unexpected and dangerous turn.
Often, a direct-to-video film reveals its nature right from the start, whether it's due to unknown actors or authors, a low budget, or elements that cannot or should not be shown in a cinema, but « Transsiberian » » we specify from the outset » does not fall into any of these categories, and yet it has not enjoyed cinematic releases, arriving in our country directly on home video. Furthermore, with considerable delay.
« Transsiberian » is a thriller, but it is a thriller that hides its beauty in the discovery, in not making its intentions clear until the end, in its ability to take us to the end of a corridor only to turn abruptly and find ourselves in a completely different, new, and unexpected space.
"Life is not made of shades, we live in a world of contrasts" we are told at the beginning, and the film is already there, with its blurry, « noisy », and desaturated photography, contradicting with the image what will later be questioned directly at the narrative level.
The characters manage to escape the stereotypes of the innocent and happy but monotonous couple and the one who lives day by day to avoid facing life, presenting us with nuances that continuously question their respective characters and personalities. For the first 40 minutes, we witness a captivating drama of a sentimental nature involving Julie and Carlos, only to shift everything into a thriller, but the tone changes a third time for the last part of the work.
Our ideas about the characters change with every plot twist and every turn of the film, continuously casting doubt on their psychological traits and motivations, immersing us in a claustrophobic labyrinth of uncertainties. No one is who they seem to be, or rather, everyone is, but the film continuously makes us think we are off track.
The director is Brad Anderson, famous for « Session 9 » and the excellent « The Machinist », who here, although handling everything completely differently from a technical point of view, does an excellent job with a limited budget and handheld camera, successfully capturing that sense of claustrophobia and immobility that envelops and confines the protagonists on the train, the space in which almost the entire film takes place.
The artistic cast includes Woody Harrelson (« The Hunger Games », « London Boulevard »), Emily Mortimer (« Shutter Island »), Eduardo Noriega (« The Last Stand »), and Kate Mara (« 127 Hours »), all perfectly in their roles and entirely convincing. The agent is also played by the always excellent Ben Kingsley, who here takes on an ambiguous and unsettling role, very much in the style of « Shutter Island ».
Certainly, some flaws in the film are noticeable, such as its excessive length or the repetitiveness of certain situations, which, however, in its entirety, do not cause much annoyance.
It is therefore difficult to understand the reason why a film of this kind has received so little attention from the Italian distribution despite its quality, cast, and director.
In conclusion, we are not certainly looking at a masterpiece or something completely new, but it is still worth watching.
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