In Tranzit
In Tranzit
R | 04 March 2008 (USA)
In Tranzit Trailers

Nazi POWs suspected of heinous acts are locked up in a Soviet women's prison run by vengeful female guards. To weed out the guilty, the innocent must pay. Can supposed enemies turn into great loves? Based on a true post-World War II story, this drama stars Thomas Kretschmann, John Malkovich and Vera Farmiga in a bitter game of cat and mouse and a battle between hate and humanity, mercy and revenge.

Reviews
Richmond Sim

I would like to commend the producers for creating a film with unique concept incomparable to other war movies, because instead of tackling the rampant theme of war, they tackled the post-war situation.First, in criticizing this film, we don't actually have to deal much about the screen portrayals because the movie does not include heavy drama. However, even if it does not, we still have to appreciate the fact that the actors and actresses really did well in portraying and none of them were over acting. Although, we cannot disavow as well, that there were some who were under acting.Second, I love the fact that the producers did not frontline script to make a beautiful movie. They made it as realistic as it could be, for it seemed more natural than others.Third, The musical scoring is on average, but one thing that really depressed me is the playing of violin by one of the prisoners that wasn't synchronized with the video.Fourth, I was expecting something more on what I can see on the screen -- something like extreme panning of cameras to switch scenes or some amazing CGIs to depict extreme cruelty -- but then everything seemed to be mainstream.Fifth, the video quality was good. It was not that dark so that we can clearly see what's happening on screen. It was not that light neither that gives a hinge of some historic feeling.Lastly, The whole 113 minutes was dull. The only variations were the few sexualities which were obviously done to attract and catch viewers. They may use "It's a true story" as an excuse for having no pinnacle scenes other than the sexualities, but I believe it could have been better if they used some cliffhangers to retain, for at least, the interest of the viewers.Overall, I'd give it a rating of 7 out of 10.

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aydonis

I was disappointed with this story. This must have been written for young girls looking at the world through rose coloured glasses, or at least for a very small audience range. The movie portrays the Russian soldiers, and the lonely local Russian women, as a bunch of bleeding heart liberals, all but throwing themselves at their Nazi captives who invaded their homeland, raped and murdered their friends and family members, destroyed their homes, and brought war upon them. An implausible love story supposedly based on a true story. From the beginning I was hoping John Malkovich might salvage some small part of this movie by putting a bullet through the head of the traitorous and deceptive Dr. Natalia, and executing all the prisoners, but alas no liberation from a painfully romanticized story ever arrived. This story is ridiculous and portrays many of the female Russian soldiers as weak, incompetent, and downright traitorous.

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Claudio Carvalho

In the winter of 1946, in Leningrad, a group of German prisoners of war are sent to a female transit camp by the cruel Russian Commander Pavlov (John Malkovich). When they arrive, the Russian female soldiers show the hostility to the enemies that have killed their husbands, families and friends; only Dr. Natalia (Vera Farmiga) and the cook Zina (Natalie Press) treat the prisoners with dignity. Natalia has an agreement with Commander Pavlov to keep her former lover Andrei (Yevgeni Mironov), who was wounded on the head during the war and is slow, in the camp instead of sending him to an institution in Siberia. Pavlov assigns Natalia to disclose members of the SS infiltrated in the group of prisoners. Natalia and the prisoner Max (Thomas Kretschmann) feel a great attraction for each other while the prisoner Klaus (Daniel Brühl) tries to convince Max to denounce a couple of prisoners to satisfy the Russian. Natalia convinces the businessman Yakov (John Lynch) to organize an orchestra with the prisoners; they are invited to play in a ball, where the lonely women that survived the war dance with the Germans. After the ball, Natalia convinces Officer Elena (Thekla Reuten) to let the prisoners spend the night with the women. Natalia has one night stand with Max and while he sneaks back to the quarters, he is attacked by Klaus and saved by Natalia that discovers who Klaus actually is."In Tranzit"is the type of movie that has a great potential and could be better and better. Based on a true story, and supported by a great international cast leaded by the awesome Vera Farmiga, John Malkovich, Daniel Brühl, John Lynch and others and magnificent cinematography, costumes and set decoration, unfortunately the screenplay is weak and pointless. The writer seems to be lost in the dramatic conflict of the lonely women in the chaotic post-war with few men in the city but their former enemies; the existence of a criminal of war in the group of prisoners; and the romance of Natalia and Max. I am a fan of the great actress Vera Farmiga, and her interpretation is dramatically intense; her sex scene is beautifully full of passion and heat. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "Vítimas da Guerra" ("Victims of the War")

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echosheng90731

Excellent movie. Amazing performance by Thomas Kretschmann (as always). It's hard to see this gorgeous man dressed in drags and looks like hell half of the movie. The love scene of him with the nurse is so touching. The whole movie is a chilling and depressing experience until towards the last 30 minutes of the film. The only part that puzzles me is that after the "party" organized by the kind-hearted Jew, why were those Russian women so enthralled with the German POW's? Just after one or two dances? The pain and suffering of the war all thrown out of the window? Or, it's because so many Russian men had been killed that these women were simply man-hungry? It's a great movie in the same class of "the Pianist", go watch it!

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