The Way Back (***)
Directed by: Peter Weir
Starring: Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, Colin Farrell, Saoirse Ronan, Mark
Strong, Dragoş Bucur, Gustaf Skarsgård
Seen: July 1st 2011
*** Out of ****
Even though The Way Back is described by director Peter Weir as “essentially
a fictional film”, it is inspired by true events. The movie has an all round documentary
feel to it, even though a straight forward story is told – maybe because it’s a
National Geographic movie; loosely based on Slawomir Rawicz’s The Long Walk. Sold
as his own alleged escape from a Siberian gulag (Russian forced-labour prison camp),
the book was debunked in 2006 – and while the truth is still unclear, there has
been sketchy historical record of this kind of thing actually happening, just
not with Rawicz.
Janusz (Sturgess) is a Polish prisoner of war prosecuted by the USSR. They’ve
manipulated his wife into signing a statement condemning him to imprisonment. Conditions
in the gulag are difficult, and Janusz, thinking of escaping from the first
moment, must negotiate various elements – those who only talk of escape but
never will, the true blue-bearded criminals, and the tough but helpful ones. He
meets Khabarov (Strong) in the camp, and together they start hatching plans of
escape. On one opportunistic night, after sourcing small amounts of food and
other provisions, Janusz manages to escape the camp with a group of men: Mr.
Smith (Harris), an American with little to give but criticism for Janusz’s
sense of caring; Valka (Farrell), a volatile and tough Russian inmate; Zoran (Bucur),
a Yugoslav accountant, Voss (Skarsgård), a Latvian priest; Kazik, a Pole who
suffers from night blindness; and Tomasz, an artist and their cook.
Their escape plan required them to travel about 1000 km before
reaching Lake Baikal, which they would skirt for another approximately 650 km
before heading south across the Trans-Siberian Railway line and into Mongolia,
where they’d be free. These travels are arduous and they must constantly be on
the lookout. A young girl, Irena (Ronan), follows them and eventually joins the
group, telling terrible tales of her suffering at the hands of the Russians. Reaching
Mongolia they are shocked to see that the country has struck a deal with
Communist Russia, and see it as too much of a risk to enter the cities. They go
through the desert and as the group fights to win ground some become sick and
fall prey to the harsh elements. At times the movie felt like a teen horror,
the viewer sitting around, guessing who will survive and who won’t. The few
remaining survivors’ travels eventually lead them over the Himalayas to India, where
they were welcomed and finally found their escape plan finalised after a walk
of over 4000 miles.
While not the most exciting of movies The Way Back is a triumphant
display of the human power to overcome despite difficulty, given the correct
motivation. The movie is never boring, as their struggles and frustrations are effectively
conveyed to the audience, but it does at times seem a bit stretched out. Jim Sturgess
plays Janusz with a stubbornness that borders on insanity, but when the writers
eventually uncover his motivation things get clearer regarding his character.
Ed Harris is a strong character who is almost the antithesis of Janusz, but he
warms up to Irena, played to perfection (again) by the brilliant young Saoirse
Ronan. For a great tale of inspiration you can’t go wrong with The Way Back.
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