Lee Eisenberg World War II has been one of the most common subjects in cinema for the past seven decades. Practically every country involved in that six-year conflict has made movies about it, including Russia. One example is Aleksey Uchitel's "Kray" ("The Edge" in English), Russia's submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the 83rd Academy Awards.Most of the movie is set in the aftermath of WWII, in a Siberian camp for Soviet troops who had been POWs in Germany, now sent to the camp for "re-education". One of the people there is war hero Ignat, who had wrecked a train. But when he ventures out on a hunch, Ignat finds what could be a new path in life...even if it angers the commissar.To me, the trains represent the struggles that the people in the Soviet Union had endured under Nazi occupation, but also the understanding that the way forward was not going to be an easy task. While the movie doesn't have the intellectual profundity of some Russian movies that I've seen, it does make clear that mere suspicion of collaboration with the Germans could have dire consequences. It's not a masterpiece, but I like how it develops the characters, especially Elsa.Other Russian movies about WWII that I recommend are "The Cranes Are Flying", "Cuckoo" and "Our Own".

fabiorogerio I liked the movie because it has a post-war reality did not know. It's a different story where there is no hero or villain. It is a story that only interests the Russian people, but it was worth watch also liked the photo and the performance of the actors. also which I thought was cool is to have been in the Russian Ligua, as if it had been Dubbed into English would not be fun. I also agree with the issue of title having nothing to do with the movie, but I imagine that the company released the film in Brazil, I wanted to give a title to call attention, without worrying about the consistency of the Portuguese title with history. This is common in American movies.

Claudio Carvalho In 1945, in the end of the World War II, the Russian war hero Ignat (Vladimir Mashkov) is sent to a Siberian labor camp of collaborationist to work as mechanic of the locomotive that transports wood. Ignat has a concussion that makes him lose consciousness and loves locomotives, but is not allowed to be a driver. Ignat meets the Russian Sofia (Yuliya Peresild) that has a German boy named Pashka and he has a love affair with her. When Ignat learns that there is an abandoned locomotive in the woods, he decides to repair the vehicle. But he finds the aggressive German girl Elsa (Anjorka Strechel) living aboard of the train that tries to protect her abode. But Elsa ends teaming up with Ignat and helping him to fix the locomotive and repair of the bridge to cross the river. When Ignat returns to the labor camp, he has a love affair with the outcast Elsa and Sofia is jealous of her. They both are outcast and Ignat and his locomotive "Gustav" are rejected by the dwellers and lives with Elsa in the train. But when the cruel Major Fishman (Sergey Garmash) arrives in the camp, their lives will not be the same again."Kray" is a movie with a different story about the lives of persons considered collaborationist by Stalin living in a Siberian labor camp. The relationship among the dwellers is weird since most of the men are alcoholics and the women are promiscuous. It is impressive and also comprehensible the hatred of the inhabitants of the camp and the German Elsa. Movies of the World War II are usually about the Holocaust or the bravery of Americans in the war and it is great the chance to see the fate of these people in the post-war. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Expresso Da Morte" ("Express Train of the Death")

samkan There is little about THE EDGE that is not extremely well done. The setting and props are authentic and make you want to pull up a blanket to keep Siberia out. The photography and editing are topnotch; e.g., no lazy cameras, obnoxious close-ups, etc. All characters act according to their described circumstances. I'd bet the script is great but of course I was limited to subtitles. But the most intriguing item about THE EDGE is the plot; i.e., the storyline. Arguably the tale twists but whatever such may be the two lead characters are single-minded and riveted to their goals. The IMDb (and I assume the film's) poster picture is misleading as it suggests some superhero-like character with a Transformer-sized train. Such is decidedly NOT the case. However, the actual train devise becomes even more thrilling because of a plot predicament I won't give away. If I haven't already said so the male and female leads give awesome performances. I rarely gush so much about a movie but how THE EDGE slipped under the critics radar baffles me. Doctor Zhivago has nothing on this film. I predict great things for Anjorka Strechel.