A Railway Station for Two (1983) User Reviews

nicely done

[deng43 · 8/10 · 27 September 2007]

i watch the actors, lyudmila as vera in particular, and i wish they could make more films that i could access. meryl streep, whom i like very much, hasn't got a thing on lyudmila; this is one vibrant and vivid actress with a face the camera loves to love.

the movie seemed very french to me; my wife thought Italian. at any rate it is not an American film. the sensibility is far more oblique and understated. i recall a stephen rea film about the ussr where he is a detective tracking down a serial killer; i think that movie really tries to portray what life must be like in Russia, but finally it is really just a cliché when compared to this film. this movie breathes 'other' and we must switch gears to attempt to see who these folk are and what they are about. a very fine bit of film making that satisfies all the way thru.

Playful, depressing, and complex

[njaffe-604-968961 · 8/10 · 7 April 2013]

Riazanov's Railway Station for Two is a delightfully unique work that jumps between triviality and complexity with a certain grace. On the one hand, the film is a dark comedy about a man for whom nothing goes right, a walking Murphy's law. On the other hand, it is a classic melodramatic romance about a working class woman and a member of the intelligentsia. However, the film is much more than either of these clichés. There is a wonderfully crafted development of relationship at play: over the course of the two or three short days depicted, one is well convinced that these two people have progressed from viciously bickering strangers to being truly in love. Riazanov manages to draw for the viewer the contrasting and overlapping struggles of these disaffected members of opposite social classes with a subtlety that might have been painfully overbearing in the hands of a different director. There are striking sociopolitical aspects to this film as well – casual depiction of the black market, references to the issues of profiteering and shortages, and even outright criticism of communism are remarkable, at least in contrast with earlier Soviet work. The clash of gender equality and tradition also comes into play at several times in the course of the film's brief love affair. All of these themes are dealt with in a wonderfully delicate way, accenting a sometimes saturnine and sometimes playful love story. Elements of Riazanov's style are reminiscent of early Soviet cinema – pressing psychological burdens, long and pregnant silences – in manner that is unfortunately sometimes alienating. The ending sequence in particular, divorced from the train station in which so much of the story occurs, is downright bizarre and troublesomely off-tempo from the rest of the film. The majority of Station for Two, however, is a well-wrought balance of social commentary and bleakly-humorous romance.

The melody for two lonely hearts and the rail station

[Galina_movie_fan · 10/10 · 31 October 2007]

Eldar Alexandrovich Ryazanov, the renowned master of comedies, one of the most beloved Soviet and Russian directors, has written/directed during his long career many films that don't get old or outdated. They are beautiful, moving, funny, and unforgettable. Ryazanov created his own style of lyrical comedy which is known for its subtle delicate humor, often imperfect but likable characters, and the atmosphere of love ready to happen in the most unusual places under the least expectable circumstances. Along with lyrical comedy, Eldar Ryazanov wrote and directed some of most powerful Soviet and Post-Soviet satires, such as 'Garazh' (1979), Zabytaya melodiya dlya fleyty (1988) ... aka Forgotten Melody for a Lonely Flute and "Nebesa Obetovannye" or "Promised Heaven" (1991).

I've seen almost every one of his movies and I love them all but "Vokzal dlya dvoich" is one of his very best. Touching, funny and heartbreaking, "Vokzal dlya dvoich" is perfect as melodrama/romance; the genre that way too often produces over-sentimental sickly sweet unwatchable duds. In "Vokzal dlya dvoich", Platon Ryabinin (Oleg Basiloshvili), the pianist from Moscow, meets the love of his life when he least expects or needs it. He is going through the most difficult period of his life, spending the last days as a free man and awaiting the trial for the crime he did not commit. His wife was driving their car with him as a passenger, and she accidentally hit and killed a man. Platon said to the police and investigators that he was behind the wheel... While on the train to see his elderly father for what could be the last time, Platon stuck at provincial rail station after a quarrel in the station restaurant with a waitress, whom he saw as loud, vulgar, and disgusting - despite her nice figure and striking face (Lyudmila Gurchenko, Soviet movie superstar and a talented singer and writer). At one point, he finds himself with no proper ID and his valet stolen. Now he has to rely on help and understanding from the very woman who caused his delay and distress. After two days that Platon had to spend mostly at the Zastupinsk rail station in the company of Vera, the waitress, the single mother with a typical sad story, both their lives have changed forever.

Nikita Michalkov was remarkable as the obnoxious smug black market dealer - train attendant Andrei, Vera's boyfriend-on-the-move. His two cameos in the movie were brilliant. Basiloshvili and Gurchenko were simply great together, never playing a single false note in this melody for two lonely hearts and the rail station. The film is funny, lyrical, satirical, bittersweet, and dramatic, often at the same time but its final scene when Vera and Platon meet again after she has traveled 7000 km by train, plain, and truck to the Siberia camp where he was serving time is amazing in its emotional power. It is not easy to recall another scene that reveals so much love, loyalty, readiness to go through all possible and impossible obstacles just to be with one you love - for good, for bad, forever - through the eyes of a woman who simply sits at the table and watches her beloved eating or rather wolfing the food that she prepared just for him. Masterful and heartbreaking.

Railway Station for Two: Best Classic of Soviet Love!! Keep a copy!

[mhanjing · 10/10 · 9 April 2005]

I keep this movie on the top of my favorite Soviet movies. Typical Russian dark humor and sharply piercing plots, right into heart of human love.

No other director has done so well in the balancing popularity and literary art. The beauty is plain, but keeps coming back to your memory.

I grow up in China but and this title is imprinted into my memory of the wandering time, a seemingly peaceful time, with undercurrent of our human fates in the vast system, and hence the life without a border.

Centrel Russia ( west Siberia) has never been so vivid, and never be so warm. It requires some traveling in the vast inland to fully understand the beauty.

A film that changed my life

[SpiritRC · 10/10 · 2 April 2007]

This is one of the best films I've ever watched. I like almost all Ryazanov's works, but this one has changed my life. Well, not directly mine, but my mother's. After watching this film, my mother finally decided that she can't suffer anymore from her husband, my father, and so she filed for divorce. That was a really wise decision, I must say! And now I'll try to explain what was the role of the film in her making such a decision.

In this film there is a song (soundtrack) sang by Lyudmila Gurchenko, who plays Vera in the film. The music is written by Andrey Petrov and the lyrics are by Eldar Ryazanov himself. I will try to do a translation of the lyrics for you to understand how this song affected a 34 year old woman with a 5 year old child:

We live like there is no hero, We stand like soldiers in a line. Don't be afraid to bet for zero And quickly overcome your life!

Remember us at the beginning? Today we try to never strive. Take smallest chance towards the winning And try to overcome your life!

Let streaks of gray be guests in your hair, It's never late to make a turn. Don't be afraid to bet all you have, And act like you have just reborn!

Whenever rain thrashes your suit's back Try to cheer up and feel alright The time has come to shuffle your pack And try to overcome the life!

Believe in dreams, believe in tales, Don't drag your things all 'round the place: You'll never take them into Hades, So better try and win the race!

Let there be no place for a sorrow When you can't beat your rival's card, You bet your life for the tomorrow - There is no win without a fight!

Not a Film to Forget

[garcianyssa · 10/10 · 7 November 2015]

Train Station for Two tells the story of two people, Planton and Vera, who meet at a train station and through hilarious mishaps start to fall in love with each other. These mishaps only serve to stress Planton even more, but he finds happiness in the situation with Vera. However, they are unfortunately reminded of their depressing situation at every turn and cannot afford to forget their reality – Planton's impending trial for a crime he did not commit and a subsequent stay in jail, and Vera with her low-paying job, struggling to make ends meet and raise a child after her divorce. This is a very unique film in that it is comedic, yet bittersweet. Although they come from opposing backgrounds Planton and Vera are able to form a solid relationship that doesn't feel contrived and by the end of the film there is still some hope to be found for them. This film also shows integral parts of Soviet life wonderfully with Andrei's profiteering from melons to shoes and the inequality experienced by many people. The role of the train station in this film is pivotal and in the final scenes when Planton and Vera are desperately trying to get back on time it feels like they have finally been freed from the monotony of the train station. The ending scene was very impactful because it was able to condense all of the feeling of the film into this one scene where we have a bittersweet moment when Vera visits Planton, which then turns into a comedic moment as they race to make it back to the prison on time. Train Station for Two is a excellent film that manages to not be cliché for its genre.

I want to know the plot.

[laurelelliot · 18 November 1998]

We usually watch our Russian movies with Japanese subtitles but this one had no subtitles at all - so I was very disappointed to find you haven't any plot summary for this one. You know its got to be a fascinating movie when five people who don't know Russian - and one of whom despises the language - watch it without subtitles, not just once, but three times!

Way too long

[EHrmns · 6/10 · 31 August 2021]

Most comments seem to be filled with some nostalgia about when the film was released but now one only can say it just drags endlessly. Some scenes could easily be cut, especially the one at the fruit and vegetable market which serves no purpose at all and there are plenty of others so that one only can feel, get on with it!

The one redeeming feature is, that it shows life in the Soviet Union as it was at the beginning of the 1980s. There is a lot of small time corruption to make life bearable and I'm surprised that some of the criticism of the Soviet communist system was left in especially about the shortage of proper supply in shops and how everybody cuts corners for their own gain.

love in unlikely places

[dminkin · 10/10 · 14 April 2013]

If there was one allowable criticism one could make for A Railway Station for Two it would be the pace at which the main character, Platon Ryabinin, transforms himself from a "city-slicker" to a man quite comfortable with his surroundings in about no time at all. Even so, it's eminently forgivable when the romance between Vera and Platon is contingent on Ryabinin's adaptability, and the exposure the film gives to a detailed picture of Soviet life and its many idiosyncrasies.

Although the love story is predominately what drives the pace and rhythm of the film, other sub-themes regularly permeate the main story. Profiteering, the law and justice or the lack thereof, and social stances on gender equality dominate. Irony such as the following suffuses the story line: "Life depends not on those who are in charge, but those on duty." Or "why do you want to know what you'd better not know?" And then there is the acceptance of the vagaries and injustices of life: "Good people are always unlucky."

The story explores with a light, comedic touch two people from wildly different backgrounds, a pianist and a waitress, who meet accidentally at a train station. Platon is on his way to Siberia after taking the rap for a car accident in which his wife hits and kills a man who was possibly suicidal anyway. Vera 's husband has just walked out on her after committing adultery and announcing it on the apartment building's intercom. She then takes up with a black market profiteer until she and Platon meet. Their relationship becomes a study in how people from opposing backgrounds can still fall in love and take a chance despite the heartbreaks life throws at them.

What is critical to this beautifully rendered film is that despite the difficulties inherent In Soviet everyday life because of the system, everyone holds no grudges and tries to work together to overcome the bureaucratic stupidities. The film's most explicit point is that no one knows what anything, including themselves, is really worth to someone else. Whether its melons, carburetors or love, anything is possible in this witty, sometimes sad, and ultimately triumphant film.

A beautiful Romantic Movie

[Gump-10 · 10/10 · 23 April 1999]

A pianist, whose wife had killed someone in a traffic accident, decides to go to Siberian jail in her place. On his way to Siberia, he has a train stopover at a small town railway station, where he met a train attendant. In a few days,they became good friends and had lots of fun together. 10 years later, one day in the jail, the man receives a message saying that his wife is coming to see him.........

I first saw this movie when I was 12 years old. The memory is still vivid. If you like A bridge on the Madison County, you will probably like this movie. It's one of Ryazanov's love trilogy. A must for Ryazanov fans.

Hi

[uryanskiy · 7 September 2011]

http://www.RUSCICO.com/catalog/cataloguedvd/catalogue_121.html RUSCICO Does good DVD with RU EN DE FR ES IT subtitles. Japan greetings! Children a lot of Russian cinema are on the Internet you means badly search. Forgive for English as for me speaks Google.

Present I has learned about that that Russian cinema to interesting world through Esquire) HTTP://esquire.RU/IMDb

Very interesting article I haven't begun to cry nearly Is proud for our cinema It is very pleasant to hear that it makes such effect on the spectator which at all doesn't understand language) it and does cinema by the present!