January 3, 2011
The Way Back is the apparently true story of a group of seven men who escaped from a Soviet gulag in 1942. It’s based on the memoirs of Slavomir Rawicz, and follows their journey from the arctic conditions of Siberia, through Mongolia and the Gobi desert, to the Himalayas and, finally, India and freedom. It’s an extraordinary story, truly remarkable. Walking 4000 miles to liberty - through the toughest conditions imaginable - is about as great a testament to the human spirit as there can ever be.
It makes for compelling watching, too. There is a matter-of-factness about the original book, The Long Walk, that renders the story all the more inspiring, and director Peter Weir honours this tone by refusing to over-dramatize events. As in the book, the characters are drawn fairly loosely, and their back-stories are explained only briefly. This is not a eulogy to these men, but instead a vivid portrayal – though, with a 12A certificate, not as vivid as it could be – of a momentous achievement of human will and perseverance. Colin Farrell is impressive as the abrasive Valka, and Ed Harris somehow eschews his Hollywood sheen as the American Mr Smith, but the film doesn’t overindulge itself. The music score, too, is understated. When one of the group does succumb – we are told at the beginning that only 4 men survive - the group must keep walking in order to survive. The film, too, has a steady but relentless pace, and is rarely sentimental.
Yet, the scale of this adventure is perhaps too broad to be truly captured in two hours of cinema, and Weir chooses to stay loyal to the tone of the book rather than to explore the individual dramas lurking beneath the surface. A narrating voice may have given the film more pathos, for example. I was surprised, too, that there were no end credits to explain what happened to the men who survived, or (if the veracity of the memoirs is in doubt), those in Siberia who did not. This is a remarkable story, made possible by immense courage, but whilst these men did walk to freedom, millions like them did not.
It makes for compelling watching, too. There is a matter-of-factness about the original book, The Long Walk, that renders the story all the more inspiring, and director Peter Weir honours this tone by refusing to over-dramatize events. As in the book, the characters are drawn fairly loosely, and their back-stories are explained only briefly. This is not a eulogy to these men, but instead a vivid portrayal – though, with a 12A certificate, not as vivid as it could be – of a momentous achievement of human will and perseverance. Colin Farrell is impressive as the abrasive Valka, and Ed Harris somehow eschews his Hollywood sheen as the American Mr Smith, but the film doesn’t overindulge itself. The music score, too, is understated. When one of the group does succumb – we are told at the beginning that only 4 men survive - the group must keep walking in order to survive. The film, too, has a steady but relentless pace, and is rarely sentimental.
Yet, the scale of this adventure is perhaps too broad to be truly captured in two hours of cinema, and Weir chooses to stay loyal to the tone of the book rather than to explore the individual dramas lurking beneath the surface. A narrating voice may have given the film more pathos, for example. I was surprised, too, that there were no end credits to explain what happened to the men who survived, or (if the veracity of the memoirs is in doubt), those in Siberia who did not. This is a remarkable story, made possible by immense courage, but whilst these men did walk to freedom, millions like them did not.
