‘Transsiberian’ is a movie about an American couple who just finished a humanitarian mission in China. As Roy the husband (Woody Harrelson) loves travelling by train, they decide to take the Transsiberian railway to go to Moscow. The wife Jessie (Emily Mortimer) who has a passion for photography likes the idea though it takes longer to reach the destination. On board they meet another couple who doesn’t seem odd. Travelling for days together at one stop Roy misses to get back on the train and Jessie decides to get off from the next station and wait for him to catch up. The other couple Abby & Carlos also offers to stay back with her. While Roy is gone some events happen which puts Jessie in a tight spot and Abby & Carlos involved. When Jessie finally meets up with Roy after 2 days things have changed dramatically. And they are on the run for their life on the snow piled forests of Siberia.
This movie has its own mood to it. What I like about it is that it’s silent most of the time but just enough loud and thrilling when it has to be. There is no hype created throughout. It starts like a detective movie and switch back to drama mode in a jiffy. After that for a long time it stays like a drama. Mainly concentrating on Roy and Jessie and the ups and down of their marriage life and the train journey. Things start to bump only on the second half. And it gets tense by the minute. Remember this is a slow movie. And its 2 hours long so expect it to be boring as travelling on the Transsiberian Itself at times. But everything adds up in the final and you will be glad that you watched it.
There is an eerie frame of mind created about the whole Russian Siberian part of the movie. About the people, places and their views starts to sink in to the plot and it’s all used to build up the tension. The viewer feels like the couple is actually has no way to run and tangled in a web which they are not totally aware of. However the ending is quite well planned and gives a sigh of relief to everyone.
Performance wise it stands out. Especially noticeable acting by Emily pushes the plot deeper and deeper. And well shot cinematographic as well. Few wonderful frames of the train passing through ‘Ghostly’ snowy mountains of Siberia for instance. And most frames done in tight spots in the train will make the viewer feel like they have spent a long time in a can.
My score 3.5/5
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Crime, Mystery
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