Compartment No. 6 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		4.0

Compartment No. 6 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 17, 2022

Juho Kuosmanen's "Compartment No. 6" (2021) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics. The only bonus feature on the release is an original theatrical trailer. In Russian, with optional English, English SDH, and French subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The road to Murmansk

During the worst days of the pandemic, I spent a lot of time reading old history books and viewing various archival programs that were produced during the Cold War era. The books were purchased in the past but put aside because my free time had become extremely limited. The archival programs I chose on Youtube and viewed late at night before I went to bed. The majority of the books covered very specific subjects that I have been interested in for years, while the archival programs were more generic. In fact, many of these programs were from foreign archives and were not in English, so most of the time I simply scanned their visuals and moved on.

One night, as I was doing my regular exploration work, Youtube’s algorithm suggested a video about the world’s longest train journey, which apparently is in Russia. I wasn’t tired so I clicked on it and it is how I became acquainted with Bald, a very, very adventurous British vlogger with a great sense of humor. (His real name is Benjamin, but this is how he calls himself, Bald, so this is the name I am using to identify him. His channel is called Bald and Bankrupt and can be accessed here). Bald is a world traveler who has visited various places that you would never see promoted by a tourist agency, but his best videos are from the most remote areas of the former Soviet Union. He loves history, but not the filtered kind that you would see on TV, so his videos are always full of authentic visuals and honest analysis. I find them a lot more illuminating than professional programming, which means that Youtube’s algorithm was correct to recommend his work to me.

The video from Bald that is referenced above is called “Solo on the World’s Longest Train Journey” and is approximately forty minutes long. It has maps, plenty of humor, and even references to Russian films, but its value is in its unfiltered content, which begins at the train station in Saint Petersburg and ends somewhere in the East, after Bald has passed through a number of different time zones. Believe it or not, the format of this video is extremely similar to that of Juho Kuosmanen’s award-winning film Compartment No. 6, which is also about a journey on a Russian train passing through different time zones.

The main protagonist in Compartment No. 6 is a foreigner as well but comes from Finland and is a young girl (Seidl Haarla) on her way to the port city of Murmansk, where she would explore an area with ancient petroglyphs to be featured in her future geology paper. She begins her journey in Moscow, with a heavy heart, after her Russian lover breaks a promise to accompany her. On the train to Murmansk, she shares a cabin with a drunk Russian man (Yuri Borisov) who instantly irritates her, but despite some minor communication problems later on melts her heart and the two unexpectedly begin to fall in love. In case you are wondering if this is a spoiler, the answer is no because the story is actually a combination of the evolution of the intimate connection between the two travelers and the environment in which it takes place, which is usually the type of story Bald’s videos tell as well.

Compartment No. 6 was inspired by a reportedly very good novel by Finnish writer Rosa Liksom. I am completely unfamiliar with the novel, but I feel quite confident writing that it must have very little in common with the material Kuosmanen shot. Why? Because Kuosmanen’s camera produces very particular visuals that are responsible for a very particular type of ambience that cannot be described with words. Indeed, various sections of Compartment No. 6 are silent; the camera simply observes the two travelers as they try to rationalize new feelings and emotions, so their facial expressions and the exact environment they are placed in become crucial for the already very unique story.

Kuosmanen worked with cinematographer Jani-Petteri Passi, who was part of the team that shot the award-winning TV series Chernobyl.

Desireless' classic tune "Voyage, Voyage", which became a huge international hit during the '80s, is heard multiple times throughout the film.

Compartment No. 6 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Compartment No. 6 arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

On my system the entire film looked wonderful. Because allow of the visuals allow natural light to directly enter them minor fluctuations can be observed, but they do not affect their overall very pleasing organic appearance. In fact, plenty of indoor footage where light is restricted actually looks better because of these fluctuations. Colors are very natural and looking wonderfully balanced. There are a few darker nuances that seem like they could look better with a superior dynamic range, but it is difficult to tell precisely what type of improvement can be made. (Obviously, 1080p isn't the native resolution of these visuals, so there is definitely room for legit speculations here). Image stability is outstanding. I did not encounter any encoding anomalies to report in our review. My score is 4.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Compartment No. 6 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Russian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. An English Descriptive Dolby Digital 5.1 track is provided as well. Optional English, English SDH, and French subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track handles the film's soundtrack is as good as I think it is possible. Indeed, there aren't any dramatic contrasts, but there are plenty of subtle nuances that are exposed very, very well. The music's presence make a difference as well. I did not encounter any encoding anomalies to report.

Compartment No. 6 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original U.S. trailer for Compartment No. 6. (2 min).

• Trailer Reel - a collection of trailers for other releases from Sony Pictures Classics.

Compartment No. 6 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The greatest strength of Compartment No. 6 is its incredible sincerity. While I was viewing it, there was never a moment where I felt that its two protagonists were actors acting in scripted situations. Such films are very, very rare these days. Sony's technical presentation of Compartment No. 6 is excellent, but most unfortunately the only bonus feature on the Blu-ray is an original U.S. theatrical trailer. Regardless, pick up a copy for your collection. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.