'Compartment No. 6' will take audiences on journey about human connection

A scene from ″Compartment No. 6″ [SIDUS]

"Compartment No. 6" is an internationally produced road trip drama that won the Grand Prix at the 74th Cannes International Film Festival. The film is about two strangers who meet on a train to Murmansk, Russia and will open in Korean theaters on March 8.

Centering on an unlikely bond between the protagonists who start influencing each other emotionally during the train ride, "Compartment No. 6" is a universal story about human connection, alienation and loneliness.

Laura, a Finnish student traveling to Murmansk from Moscow, played by Finnish actor Seidi Haarla, meets Lyokha, a Russian man, played by Russian actor Yuri Borisov. Initially skeptical of each other and having only dislike of the other person as a commonality, Laura and Lyokha get stuck together in a compartment numbered “6” for three days straight.

“Compartment No. 6” follows the slow currents and shifts of these two characters’ emotional connection and understanding of each other as they hesitantly start conversing together and build a relationship within the tiny compartment on the train as they travel across Russia. Laura’s and Lyokha’s unlikely bond that develops is something that cannot be defined just as romance — it is something much deeper and more profound than an attraction or desire.

Main poster for ″Compartment No. 6″ [SIDUS]

The film by director Juho Kuosmanen, a Finnish artist, is not another stormy drama but a slow burnout and a subtly moving story, shot through a 35mm film camera purposefully to enhance the 1990s backdrop of “Compartment No. 6.” The film is likely to captivate audiences who are born before the time of social media, navigation maps or digital devices, who knew and are still nostalgic for those times when analog means of travel were in vogue.

“Compartment No. 6” received a 10-minute standing ovation at the 74th Cannes International Film Festival. Hailed as “a film that transcends the usual romance narrative” by multiple international outlets, the film has a 93 percent rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

“Compartment No. 6” opens in Korean theaters on March. 8

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]