Like a Siberian Waiting for Godot, this is an absurdist look at Russian border guards on the frontier of northern Russia. Young recruit Alexei gets flown in and is oriented to the ritualized ways of living and working in the permafrost. He is schooled by the other soldiers, who in the Russian tradition quote poets, sing bawdy songs, play macho games like removing hands from wood about to be chopped, and share wisdom such as “When you start to freeze, hold your breath, and your body will start to function like it’s hooked up to a battery.” Shot in beautiful HD, sometimes in low light conditions, the film has a memorable, dusky glow. At the Edge is a winning satire of nationalism and borders, packaged in a modest portrait of a few men at the frosty edge of civilization. –True/False
