A Soviet CEO loses everything on a train—and maybe finds himself. Perestroika hits different at 80 mph.
The Red Arrow is the special train No.1 between Leningrad and Moscow. The film is set in the 1980s during perestroika in the Soviet Union. Kropotov (Lavrov) is communist CEO of a big industrial company in Leningrad. He is crafty and successful in getting a major order from the Soviet Government; building an automated assembly line. But his style of management clashes with his subordinates, talented engineers. Their potential is strangled by Kropotov's manipulative control. The government order is not accomplished and Kropotov gets fired. He is rethinking his outdated business style while on the train No.1 to Moscow.
Acting
Lavrov's simmering arrogance crumbling in real time.
Production
The Red Arrow itself—a character of steel and rust.
Director
Iskander Khamrayev
Kirill Lavrov
CEO Valeri Petrovich Kropotov
Elena Prudnikova
Valya
Andrey Smirnov
Karandin
Osvalds Bērziņš
Valdis
Vladimir Eryomin
Savitsky
Lyudmila Arinina
Natalia
Galina Figlovskaya
Golubeva
Zoya Bogomolova
Alexandra
Mariya Lavrova
Masha
Vadim Yakovlev
Antonov
Artyom Karapetyan
Vazgen
Petr Shelokhonov
Yusov
Alexander Vdovin
Ovchinnikov
Vadim Lobanov
Panchin
Afanasiy Trishkin
Sokolovsky
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The real Red Arrow was the USSR's premier luxury train, symbolizing Soviet modernity—making it the perfect cage for a man watching his ideology derail.
Released as glasnost opened Soviet cinema, this was among the first to openly critique communist management culture without fully demonizing the individual.
SU
