The Journey

Budapest Airport becomes a tense waiting area as the Hungarian uprising unfolds around the travelers. The group boards a bus toward the neutral frontier with Austria, aiming for Vienna. The mood is uneasy, with the threat of arrest or detainment hanging over them.

A sick man in the back claims to be English, Flemyng, and travels with the group. Lady Ashmore, an aristocratic Englishwoman up front, seems to know him and treats him with guarded familiarity. The dynamic hints at a fragile history between them.

The trip becomes perilous as diversions and roadblocks are set by both Soviet troops and Hungarian insurgents. The bus struggles through checkpoints and shifting routes, heightening tension among the passengers. The route to the frontier feels increasingly uncertain.

In a lakeside town near the Austrian border, Major Surov, the local Soviet commander, detains the group. He questions them, confiscates their passports, and confines them to the town's hotel while the situation is assessed.

Surov suspects Flemyng’s passport may be forged and presses him for answers. Around him, he develops a growing interest in Lady Ashmore, hinting at a dangerous mix of desire and leverage. The tension between power, loyalty, and personal attraction thickens the air.

It emerges that Flemyng is a Hungarian insurgent and Lady Ashmore is smuggling him to safety. Surov weighs the moral and strategic implications of letting them continue their journey. The revelation deepens the political stakes for everyone involved.

Surov uses the passengers as a sounding board for his views, articulating a philosophy that Russians are human too. He questions the imposition of Marxism by military force, revealing a complex internal conflict. The conversations blur lines between captor and confidant.

With Flemyng weakening from an untreated gunshot wound, Lady Ashmore bribes a fisherman to ferry them to Austria across the lake under cover of darkness. The escape plan relies on secrecy and risk, exposing everyone to further danger.

Surov detects the escape attempt and acts quickly to capture both Flemyng and Ashmore. Flemyng receives treatment from an army doctor, while Lady Ashmore is sent back to the hotel, temporarily removed from the riskier plans ahead.

The other passengers react with fury that Ashmore’s actions jeopardized their chance at release. A pregnant American woman bluntly tells Ashmore what she must do to save them all, adding moral pressure to the already tense situation.

Hungarian sniping keeps the Russian garrison on edge and a shot wounds Surov’s beloved black horse. Unable to euthanise the animal himself, he reveals a compassionate side by ordering a sergeant to shoot the stricken horse. The act humanizes him in the eyes of some passengers.

Lady Ashmore returns, prompting Surov to question whether she came back willingly. When she truthfully says she did not, he reluctantly releases her, signaling a shift in his approach to the group. The dynamic between captor and captive continues to evolve.

In the morning, Surov orders the passengers to leave, minus the arrested Flemyng, and head toward a quiet spot where they can walk into Austria. The group prepares for a forced, uncertain march toward safety. The tension between survival and compliance remains high.

As the party nears the border, Surov appears with the weakened Flemyng and releases him to Lady Ashmore. The scene marks a precarious equilibrium between mercy and control in a volatile landscape. The escape toward freedom seems momentarily possible again.

While watching the two disappear into Austria, Surov is shot by Hungarian insurgents. His fate underscores the chaotic and deadly nature of the conflict surrounding them. The event closes his arc with a quiet, somber end to a complex character.