The Way Back (2010)
Certified: PG
Duration: 133 minutes
Directed by: Peter Weir
Starring: Jim Sturgess, Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, Saoirse Ronan, Mark Strong, Dragos Bucur, Gustaf Skarsgård
KRS release
The excellent and gripping The Way Back is a loose adaptation of the memoir by Slawomir Rawicz titled The Long Walk. This memoir has raised many discussions over the years as its authenticity has been disputed by many, even by British writer Peter Fleming (Ian Fleming’s brother).
In 2006 the BBC delved into this inspirational memoir and after going through recently unearthed Russian records, it deemed that the book’s events are true, however the events chronicled do not pertain to the life of Rawicsz but rather that of another Polish soldier, Witold Glinski. Having said this, The Way Back is a masterful and powerful piece of film-making that is a testament to the strength of the human spirit.
Peter Weir is one of the great directors still in circulation, but it’s a pity that he makes movies so infrequently, almost at the pace of two every decade, with his last one being Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003). With this film he seems back in form in the way films like Witness (1985), Dead Poets Society (1989) and The Truman Show (1998) had so clearly seen him.
The film kicks off in Poland in 1939 when the country was being taken over by Germany and Russia. Janusz (Jim Sturgess) is denounced and sent to a Siberian gulag. The camp is guarded by soldiers with guns and dogs but the freezing temperature is already enough of a deterrent. The gulag is a veritable pit hole and Janusz is ready to risk everything to escape. He gathers a group of prisoners including Ed Harris as Mr Smith, an American émigré, and Colin Farrell as a Russian thief named Valka, who are ready to risk all and escape. Along the way they are joined by Irena, a young Polish girl (another strong turn from Saoirse Ronan) who begs them to take her with them.
Mr Weir shows his mastery by maintaining a balance between the people and the voyage itself, with neither element taking over the importance of the other. The film strives not to induce suspense but gives us a feeling of the insurmountable task that the protagonists are facing: be it freezing temperature or searing heat, the Siberian wastes, the Gobi desert, the Himalayas and more.
The Way Back is made for the big screen as it delivers one exquisite vista after another. Sometime the harsh and stark natural beauty takes on a life of its own. The film’s pacing mirrors the journey as the film appropriately slows down in stages to give us close-ups of the hardships suffered by the protagonists.
The film strives and succeeds in capturing the survivors’ epic task. The 4,500-kilometre trek was littered with hardships with the cast looking appropriately tired out and have been put through the grinder. Saiorse Ronan’s excellent performance will be the lynch point upon which the group’s emotions will be forged on.