After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

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.

This is supposedly based upon a true story. maybe the part that is true is that the Russians didn't have enough space for all their prisoners, and just dumped four dozen in a lightly staffed women's prison.Starring Thomas Kretschmann, who managed six roles in 2008 including Wanted and Valkyrie in addition to this one. Also featuring Vera Farmiga (The Departed), who only had four roles in 2008, including The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. She has a deal with the prison Commandant, played by John Malkovich, to protect her lover from being sent to the front. Also along is Daniel Brühl (Inglourious Basterds, The Bourne Ultimatum, 2 Days in Paris, Joyeux Noël), always a welcome addition.It was definitely a dark and depressing film, made the more so by the constant snow. There are some SS Officers in the mix and Pavlov (Malkovich) is determined to root them out and hang them. He enlists Natalia (Farmiga) for this task. Malkovich was born for roles like this.It is strange the the women who hated the prisoners in the beginning for killing their families manage to find forgiveness at the end so they can have sex.It was the acting, not the script that made this worthwhile.

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")

Yikes! Just watched it in Russian. Fortunately I speak enough Russian to understand the voice-over; wish they had kept it in the original English and just added Russian subtitles. Kretschmann, Bruhl, Farmiga and Press all give excellent performances; Evegeny Mironov does the most amazing "silent" performance since his Russian version of Kafka's "Metamorphosis". I have no doubt that anti-German sentiment was running high in 1946 in Leningrad; nevertheless, surely there was some hope or ray of sunshine in all the gloom. I am beginning to understand why this film was not marketed in America. Unless you lived through those times, or are a student of history, the subject matter of this film may not have much appeal. Still, for you history buffs out there, don't miss some fine acting in this film.