Even now I wonder what the film's motive really was. From the start, the protagonist doesn't really have a goal. He seems to be a drifter landing a job as a train driver, but then the film doesn't give the character a goal. He simply finds ways to overcome obstacles in his way as he moves along. Having said this, though, for a film with little to no goal set for the main character, it was surprisingly interesting. Almost the entire film is set on trains, and I really loved that! This film will be an absolute feast for train enthusiasts. Vladimir Mashkov lent a wonderful charm to hard-ass character Ignat. Vladimir was an excellent choice for this role. The rest of the cast was also very good, and the cinematography was also excellent.

World War II has been one of the most common subjects in cinema for the past seven decades. Practically every country involved in that six-year conflict has made movies about it, including Russia. One example is Aleksey Uchitel's "Kray" ("The Edge" in English), Russia's submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the 83rd Academy Awards.Most of the movie is set in the aftermath of WWII, in a Siberian camp for Soviet troops who had been POWs in Germany, now sent to the camp for "re-education". One of the people there is war hero Ignat, who had wrecked a train. But when he ventures out on a hunch, Ignat finds what could be a new path in life...even if it angers the commissar.To me, the trains represent the struggles that the people in the Soviet Union had endured under Nazi occupation, but also the understanding that the way forward was not going to be an easy task. While the movie doesn't have the intellectual profundity of some Russian movies that I've seen, it does make clear that mere suspicion of collaboration with the Germans could have dire consequences. It's not a masterpiece, but I like how it develops the characters, especially Elsa.Other Russian movies about WWII that I recommend are "The Cranes Are Flying", "Cuckoo" and "Our Own".

I saw this at the 2011 Palm Springs International Film Festival. This was nominated for a Golden Globe in the Best Foreign Language Film category and was also Russia's official submission to the 83rd Academy Awards. From director Aleksei Uchitel and writer Aleksandr Gonorovsky, The Edge, which in Russian is Kray, meaning the end, was beautifully shot by cinematographer Yuri Klimenko with wonderful set staging by production designer Vera Zelinskaya. Essential to this film is the rapid fire sound by sound designer Krill Vasilenko and buffeted by a a great music soundtrack from Irish composer David Holmes. The story is set in the fall of 1945 at the close of WWII in a Siberian labor camp whose occupants harvest wood and produce charcoal to power the steam locomotives that traverse the Siberian wilderness. Ignat (Vladimir Mashkov) is a Russian war hero suffering from intense migraines who has been sent to the labor camp as a locomotive specialist. He starts up a relationship with Sofia (Yulia Peresild) by stealing her away from her fellow camp boyfriend. Ignat learns of a locomotive stranded in the woods and abandoned for years across the river. He hatches a plan to resurrect it to it's former glory in an anticipated race with his arch rival Major Fishman (Sergei Garmash) who is soon to replace the camps commander. While surveying the locomotive, Ignat encounters Elsa (Anjorka Strechel) a hostile German girl who has been living a feral life aboard the old train since the outbreak of the war. He soon enlists her help to free the locomotive and repair a bridge across the river and in doing so, becomes involved with her in a forbidden Russian-German love affair. It's been reported that writer Gornorovsky and director Uchitl collaborated on an astounding 100 rewrites to bring the script to film with rewrites going on as it was being filmed. It pays off in the final product. Filled with imagery such as the bear, the symbol of Russia, not Soviet Russia but Russia. In a metaphor, Russia the bear is eaten and stripped of it's hyde,cannibalized and crucified. The Edge is the edge of the world and the edge of human relations and human abilities. This is a powerful film like the locomotives it embraces and I would recommend it and give it a 9.0 out of 10.

I will not get into details about the movie itself - I like it a lot obviously. I will just try to answer some of the questions raised by some of the people that gave relatively low grade as they obviously did not understand a lot about the movie (probably due to bad subtitles or lack of enough attention) which I, being someone with good understanding in Russian and having quite good Bulgarian subtitles, have noticed: -This is not a Gulag! This is free labor camp - much different. People there are not imprisoned, are being cared about (clothed, fed relatively good and not harassed to death) while working for the state for something (wood harvesting and transporting I think). The idea is there the "spoiled" collaborationists to be reformed in the right attitude and habits for the "new" society.There is a train in the camp as this is the end of the railroad, this is the last station (hence the pun in the title "Kray" which in English means "End"). The locomotive is needed for keeping the railroad clean from snow during the winter and for transporting the harvested wood (second clearly seen in the movie and the first also explained in the film).The hitting is not without a reason, but it will take more than couple of lines to explain why for each case. Probably it is hard to understand for people that are not acquainted with the Russian/Soviet "Great Motherland war" (I am not sure if the translation is officially correct though) and the attitude of the whole nation towards the German invaders and the people who supported, helped or even tolerated them (especially men), especially from people who fought on the front."the main hero's girlfriend" is allowed separate room as she is the only one in the camp with a child - this is explicitly explained by her in the beginning of the movie and once again - this is not a Gulag! Please pay more attention before writing.About the train over the bridge - it is not something physically impossible. In fact the approach of rushing through an unstable construction instead of going slowly over it makes quite a sense - you pass through it in very short time before it has time to collapse and the inertia you have also helps. If you go slowly - you crush it under your weight.Overall, I believe that the atmosphere and the "flavor" of the time add the place is captured very well, and the characters are very realistic. I like Russian cinema a lot and probably being Bulgarian who grew during the socialist times and had to learn Russian since lower grades (now I don't regret this) helps me to understand and "feel"better their movies and what they are trying to say. So the movie for me is very, very good and kept me under it's impression for several days (still does). I highly recommend it, especially to people from Eastern Europe.I hope this review helps someone:)