Transsiberian (2008)
Transsiberian (2008) 8/10
“In Russia, we say that with lies you may go forward in the world, but you may never go back.”
The best compliment i can give a film, especially a thriller, is to say i don’t know what will happen next. That is the case for Transsiberian, the latest film by Brad Anderson, one of my favorite indie directors. Drawing upon classic Hitchcockian themes, Anderson directs a tautly crafted drama that slowly but surely creeps up on you and ramps up the tension with the skill of someone who knows how to push all the right buttons.
Note to self: Add visiting the Transsiberian railway to the list of stuff i need to do before i die. The vista, and the landscape captured by Anderson is beautiful lends a classic charm to the “films that take place on a train” genre. You don’t get such films nowadays: they are all but obsoleted by the airplane genre film.
I’ll confess that i found the beginning rather slow-going as Anderson painstakingly builds up the character’s backstory. But it is a trap, and Anderson slowly lulls you with seeming monotony before slyly adding scenes of tension and drama. The drama here is compounded by the characters and their flaws. And when you least expect it, he suddenly ratchets up the tension and moves the film into full speed. This doesn’t happen until maybe the halfway mark, but once it hits its groove, Transsiberian becomes a tense, thrilling and utterly enjoyable film. One of Anderson’s talents is his ability create expectations of what the audience predicts will happen, then develop the film in a different direction. Very often, i was surprised by the turns that the movie took and the way it developed.
The strength of the film really rests on Emily Mortimer who gives a splendid performance. Also notable is Ben Kingsley who seems to be having fun doing this film. I was less impressed by Woody Harrelson because his naive nice guy persona became boring quite fast. Transsiberian is one of the best films of 2008, and an indie gem that deserves your time.
“It’s not often that I feel true suspense and dread building within me, but they were building during long stretches of this expertly constructed film.”- Ebert
