Winning three awards at Cannes, directed and adapted from a novel to the screen by Juho Kuomanen, Compartment No. 6 is not a film at which to sneeze, yet because it didn’t make the U.S. Slap Fest, most people probably pass it by. But foreign films are often deeper than American (sorry USA) and Compartment No. 6 also fits this bill.
The ‘don’t pass over the little guy/girl’ adage is also analogous to relationships, both in real life and in the film. Where the main character, portrayed brilliantly by Seidi Haarla, APPEARED to have the ideal life, living with a girlfriend who was worldly, wealthy and an intellect, yet, the behind closed doors relationship was actually quite erratic since her love interest was the type who’s in love with whomever is thrown in front of her.
After boarding a train for a trip her lover pushed her into going on, she gets stuck in a compartment with a foul mouthed laborer, played by Yuriy Borisov. And the rest, as we say, would be a spoiler.
The beats of this film are raw, yet deep and the story very unique. The moral to the story pertinent: living a distracted life, in which you run from seeing a fictitious existence just to keep up for appearance sake, all the while laying to waste genuine people. Likewise, if you don’t realize how lucky we are to have Burns Court as the only theater in the area to show this gem, you’re missing out!
Compartment No. 6, Don’t Passover the Little Guy/Girl
