AllMovie

Writer/director Zhanabek Zhetiruov follows the life of a family inexorably tied to the railroad with this sepia-toned tale of an elderly lineman whose keen senses can check the soundness of the tracks better than any modern computer. As his grandson Sanat (Rustem Abdolda) departs for boarding school and the boy's bickering parents continue their never-ending quarrel, the ageing lineman who has been checking the tracks for decades reflects on his life's work and the accomplishments that have fueled progress in his homeland over the years.