Two cities, two families, one very cramped train compartment.
Ilya lives in Moscow; Nina lives in St. Petersburg. Ilya has a beautiful wife and a daughter; Nina's husband is an artist, and they have a young son. Nina occasionally travels to Moscow to see her partners in the publishing industry. Ilya sometimes comes to St. Petersburg on business. But more often they are in the train between St. Petersburg and Moscow just to see each other. Because they have an affair.
Acting
Mikhalkova and Porechenkov convey entire marriages in sighs.
Direction
Smirnova makes train compartments feel claustrophobically intimate.
Cinematography
Bleak Russian landscapes as emotional state.
Director
Avdotya Smirnova
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The Moscow-St. Petersburg train is Russia's most mythologized route; using it for an affair feels almost patriotic transgression.
Director Smirnova is a prominent TV host in Russia; this debut caused minor scandal for its unflinching take on bourgeois infidelity.
RU
