(2010; Kak ya provyol etim letom, Russian) At an isolated weather station in the Arctic, Sergei Gulybin (Sergei Puskepalis), a veteran meteorologist, and his assistant Pavel Danilov (Grigoriy Dobrygin), a college-grad intern, record data from the various scientific instruments and transmit telemetry and sync by radio at regular intervals: "Archym calling Fairy."

Pavel uses a Geiger counter to measure the highly-radioactive isotope beacon from which electricity is generated. The mosquitoes and the monotony, the cold and the wind, are annoying and stultifying for Pavel, who entertains himself with music on his headphones, violent videogames, and odd amusements outside, such as holding onto the rotating radar screen like a merry-go-round.

Gruff and taciturn, Sergei shows irritation with his "tourist" companion. Formerly his wife spent the months with him until she became pregnant with their child, from and to whom Sergei receives and sends SMS messages via radio operators. He tells Pavel that the station has been maintained since 1935: "Life was pretty tough."

Though not authorized to leave Pavel alone, as has been his habit for many years, Sergei goes fishing for arctic trout, of which his wife's fond, leaving the novice with responsibilities until he returns and a reminder to always take a shotgun when collecting data in case of an encounter with a polar bear.

During Sergei's absence, Pavel receives an emergency communication; he's instructed to transcribe a radiogram about an accident involving Sergei's family. He's told to give Sergei the message immediately, but to leave him alone with the news, and to "prepare the station for conservation" in advance of a vessel coming to evacuate them in five days. For whatever reason - Pavel feels intimidated by the older man - he intentionally neglects to pass along the radiogram or say anything about the accident or evacuation.

Upon inspection of the data, Sergei harshly criticizes Pavel for inaccuracies and not properly performing the work. As a warning to Pavel, he then relates the tragic account of two geophysicists who were at the station, one of whom cheated the other.

Subtle at first with long silences, director/writer Aleksei Popogrebsky's psychological thriller gradually builds explosive tension, testing the breaking point of both men. At first wary of his superior, Pavel makes a bad situation worse in his not following the original instructions, allowing fear to intensify until he's petrified of Sergei.

Still unaware of the emergency back home, Sergei goes out for a few days in his motorboat to the lagoon on a second fishing expedition, telling Pavel to say he's gone AWOL if the young man has to explain another absence. Following another critical radio transmission from Nikolai Safronov, on foot Pavel has 24 hours to reach Sergei for the two men to get picked up by helicopter.

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Copyright © 2011 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
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