Help please, name this film

[mekon]

It's a long shot, but every now and again I think of a movie I saw on SBS nearly 18 years ago. It was presented by David stratton (of the Movie Show), I've tried on numerous occassions to try and ask him and many other forums but to no avail so here goes a brief synopsis:

Film starts in colour with a Russian soldier getting his mobilisation orders to be a guard on a trans-Siberian prisoner transport train.
The rest of the film until the end is black and white. I believe it to be of Russian origin or possibly Chech?

During his time on the train (pretty mundane) he encounters many characters including older guards in the Red Army who spend their days boozing, bringing prostitutes onto the train and letting prisoners out, getting them drunk etc. Towards the end he shoots some of these corrupt guards believing he is defending the Red Army from these seeming traitors of the state.

The end reverts to colour and the train pulls up in an underground railway station in Red Square where upon the discovery of most of the soldiers killed a manhunt ensues for this solitary soldier. He ends up in a toilet cubicle in the station with most of a platoon hunting him down where he ends up shooting himself.

Please if anyone has any ideas, it's one of those movies that sticks with you and occassionaly (like tonight) it bugs me to know it's title so I can begin to look for somewhere to find it.

As I say it was long ago when I had just migrated here from UK and we had a tv that only had UHF reception so I would sit up late into the night watching great 'world movies' during my early high school years.

[Bex]

David Stratton (II)

one of those?

[Zen]

I had a search but couldn't find it.

You could try posting on the At The Movies forum:
ABC Message Board - At the Movies - Message List