The Documentary ‘off the Rails' Directed by Tim Cope

The Documentary ‘Off the Rails’ directed by Tim Cope, 2002, depicts the story of two 19 year old Australian boys who set off on a journey of 10,000 kilometres from Russia to Beijing on a Recumbent bike. Throughout the following essay, I will discuss how the Chinese Proverb “He who returns from a journey is not the same as he who left” is shown through the changes of Tim and Chris along their journey.

Although the journey Chris and Tim embark on is a physical journey, the documentary portrays just how much of an emotional journey it was too, throughout the time the boys spent on this excruciatingly long journey the audience is shown how rough and hard it truly was for them. At the beginning of the documentary the audience is shown a montage of images from the journey Tim and Chris have already endured and Tim says “…it was as the Russians told me, impossible…” already the audience is told how hard this journey is going to be for the boys as even the locals has told them that they will not be able to make it.

A major challenge that was faced along the journey that would have had a large impact on the change with Chris would be that he had just gotten engaged to his now wife Natalie mere days before their departure on the trip, this would have caused much emotional grief and longing as he would have wanted to be with her more than anything, making the trip seem longer and longer.

Once Chris and Tim arrived in the small Russian town of Babuskina, they were invited into the house of two friendly Russian grandmothers for dinner, which was when they realised that Tim had developed frost bite on his toes, he then had the tips of his toes removed and the grandmothers offered for them to stay in their home for the next 10 days until Tim was well enough to be back on the journey once more. The kind act that the Russian women had done for the two showed them the difference in people in Russia, and the kindness towards them changed their opinions towards the Russian people as well as their attitudes towards other people