The Way Back (Newmarket Films)
A Tale of Survival
The Way Back is a film based on a true story about heroism and survival. Ed Harris, Colin Farrell, Jim Sturgess and Saoirse Ronan head a strong cast in this grueling movie. Watching it is tough as the escapees from a prison camp in Siberia in the 1940s go through all sorts of hell trying to find a place where they will be free.
The focus of the film is on Janusz (Sturgess), a Polish man who has been unjustly sent to a gulag in Siberia. The weather there is brutal and Janusz knows he will die if he does not escape. The security at the prison is lax as the weather is a complete detriment to anyone trying to escape. Still Janusz decides to risk it along with an American named Mr. Smith (Harris), a weasely type known as Valka (Farrell), and three other men. At the start of the film we are told that three men wandered into India so we know from the get go there are going to be casualties.
Along the way the men find a girl following them. Her name is Irena (Ronan) and they allow her to accompany them. She seems to bring out the humanity in each of the men, especially Mr. Smith.
The movie is all about the escape. There are no side plots to undermine the main one. The brutal weather and the unrelenting landscape give the story enough drama for five other films. The look of the actors in their roles is authentic and you can almost feel their pain as they travel from one locale to the next.
The acting in the movie is good but no male actor stands out above the rest. Ronan, by virtue of being the only woman featured in the story, stands out from the rest of the cast and is a bright spot in the movie.
The film is directed by Peter Weir who has given us such movies as Master and Commander and The Truman Show. He certainly knows how to handle his cast and tell the story. Still that something extra he usually brings to a movie is missing here. The Way Back just doesnt have that added spark.
The film is rated PG-13 for profanity and violence.
The Way Back is an interesting film but not necessarily a gripping one. It is difficult to keep the characters straight as they are all haggard looking and worn down by the experience. Plus there is very little back story given about any of them. The audience gets the overall effect of their heroism but there are not many particulars involved.
The heroism and strength of will exhibited by the characters make up the core of the story. This is the purpose of the movie and the theme that emerges. If you enjoy that type of true valor then you will enjoy this movie.
I scored The Way Back an endured 6 out of 10.
