In Tranzit

Compelling drama about German POWs in a Russian prison camp post WW II
"In Tranzit" is a unique post WW II drama set in Leningrad, Russia and is based on true events. The year is 1946, and a group of German POWs are sent to a prison camp run by female guards [the camp was formerly for women]. Vera Farmiga plays Natalia, the compassionate doctor who treats the prisoners as human beings, whereas the majority of the guards treat the prisoners with disdain. One guard is particularly sadistic, though her treatment of the prisoners needs to be framed within the context of her past, as her family was murdered by German soldiers.

With limitations of food and other rations, everyone tries to make do and function the best they can, but things get complicated with the demands of John Malkovich, who plays Pavlov, a high-ranking Russian officer who commands Natalia to get information for him. The information requested is about Nazi SS officers who are hiding amongst the prisoners, and Natalia's job is to weed them out. She is reluctant mainly because she...

An Excellent Idea for a Film, A Very Weak Script
IN TRANZIT is one of those forgotten films the viewer wants to love: an all but unknown bit of history based on a true story that offers a different insight into the universal damage inflicted upon all peoples by WW II. The problem with this production is the embarrassingly weak script by Natalia Portonova and Simon van der Borgh, the unfocused direction by Tom Roberts and the bumpy editing by Paul Carlin. Beautifully photographed by Sergei Astakhov in a manner that emphasizes the brutality of Russian winters, setting a perfect matrix for the drama, this film had potential, but even the isolated acting contributions of a few seasoned actors cannot hide the weak script and the annoying pacing.

1946 and a Russian Women's prisoner of war camp lays unused until it is determined by one evil Russian officer Pavlov (John Malkovich) that it will become a camp for German prisoners of war to ferret out occult members of the Nazi SS group that inflicted such agony on the Russians...

a good character movie
The production is excellent, first rate direction, acting and script. This movie is about a group of German soldiers in 1946, who are still captive in the USSR. The soldiers are dumped on a group of female guards who have their own horrible war experiences, add to this mix a soviet intelligence officer(KGB?) with an agenda to find any SS officers among them. This movie is about what war and politics does to people, some remain decent others are monsters. All the main characters are well done, you really feel for the doctor and her brain damaged husband, you even feel for the Germans. Perhaps the cynical moral of this tale is do not loose a war.

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