Mischa, a mute boy, sets out on a surrealistic journey together with his father and two men. Their means of transportation is an old Soviet locomotive, loaded with stolen coal. The travellers intend to sell off the loot on their way through the borderless steppes of inner Russia. As a parallel to the main plot, sequences of a mysterious travelling circus keep reappearing in a very suggestive way. Many of the odd artists at the circus are people that the four protagonists encounter in the wilderness along the overgrown railway. All through the movie there is a sensation of magic crossed with pure realism, stressed by the crackling communistic infrastructure and a twisted sense of humor. The border between reality and fantasy is very subtle here. The Railway is a story about strong family ties, but also an ambitious interpretation of the clash between the Russia of old and new. One could call it the rebirth of a long forgotten genre: the Russian wonder story.
Directed by Aleksey Fedorchenko
Your score–
Not scoredImages
Cast
Related

Nine Days

The Shepherd

Northfork

Captain Volkonogov Escaped

Tuesday

SAS: Red Notice

I Am David

Pinocchio

Welcome to Smelliville

Aníkúlápó

Mythica: A Quest for Heroes

Donovan's Echo

August. Eighth

Walkaway Joe

The Good Witch's Gift

How Sarah Got Her Wings








