How do you capture an armored train? Each film has three obligatory ' cornerstone': script, director, actors. The acting ensemble here is impeccable, but with the script and directing it is somewhat more difficult. Nikolai Figurovskiy - director, screenwriter and actor - a famous person. Before starting to write scripts, he managed to shoot several films on heroic-revolutionary themes. This was his first script - the picture 'Fire versts' (1957). After exactly 20 years, Figurovskiy writes a new story on the same topic, but the result is not the same as two decades ago. The story itself is not bad, but it is extremely calm and slow, which does not fit with the title of the film. If the picture is given a loud title - ' Duel in the taiga' - then ' stuffing' should be appropriate. The title is the quintessence of the painting. A good name is almost a slogan: it sounds loud and unforgettable. In this case, really loud, but about the unforgettable - very controversial.
It is clear that the name of the type "Armored Train "Zabiyaka" or "Armored Train "Avenger" also does not particularly inspire the viewer, but will not mislead him. Slowness, slowness and even some contemplation of the picture is easily justified by a melodramatic plot, and there is nothing wrong with this. The beginning looks like this - Nazar Zhigulin finds himself at a small station, where he decides to stay to perform the task entrusted to him. By the way, his arrival at this station and filmed perfectly - severe taiga beauty against the background of the cold setting sun, and the music of Kirill Molchanov fits perfectly into the "forest poetics" Further, the camera introduces the viewer to the characters, among which is a young lady Julia Vladislavovna (Tatiana Tashkova). So far, the characters are emotionally neutral, but the spark between them has already slipped. And from the spark – especially the male and female – the flame of passion often flares. But... the creators of the picture did not go so far, limiting themselves to a scene in which Nazar explained his feelings quite peculiarly.
What about Julia? For a girl very far from revolutionary trends (only 1918!), she is too categorical in her decision. The same can be said about the members of the “combat youth detachment” – simple village guys ( “Soap on a piece on a snout!”), absolutely not “agitized” trust a person whom they almost do not know, although they perfectly understand what the consequences of their action may be. However, the haste of the characters could be forgiven if the film, in accordance with the declared genre of “fighter”, was a “combat” ending. But he's gone. An episode with an armored train would look good in a theatrical production, but not in a feature film! It is a pity that the creative potential of such wonderful actors as Nikolai Olyalin, Alexander Vokach, Vladimir Kashpur, Natalia Andreychenko, Nikolai Yudin, Boris Gitin was not implemented properly, although all the prerequisites for this were available.