A Soviet train engineer hooks up with a German woman in the Siberian hinterland -- much to the disapproval of his Soviet compatriots. I'll start by saying that I'm not sure that I fully understand this film; I think that one might need a more extensive knowledge of Russian post-war history than I have in order to understand this film's context. I can only respond to what I see, which is a hyper-masculine world of competition and an environment of anti-German prejudice. These two themes are explored in the main relationship, but whether the film is critiquing, lauding, or merely presenting these aspects of Russian post-war life is still unclear to me. I can also say that I didn't enjoy the film. There wasn't a lot to like, and I had trouble following it. All of the characters are undesirable people. Overall, as I believe I made clear, I wasn't able to get a good handle on this film.