Chronicling a seemingly impossible journey, The Way Back is inspired by the memoir of Stawomir Rawciz (The Long Walk), and tells the true story of a handful of prisoners, who escaped from a Stalinist Gulag camp during World War II, and walked for over twelve months, and 10,000 kilometers (4,000 miles) to find their freedom.
After Janusz’s (Jim Sturgess, 21) wife is forced to give false testimony against him, he is swiftly sent to a Gulag camp; where everyone is forced to partake in slave labour, kindness is likely to get you killed, and thanks to the grueling work conditions, severe lack of food, frequency of disease, and unimaginably harsh weather conditions, inmates aren’t expected to make it through their first year.
Realizing he would rather risk his life in the fierce Siberian woods; whilst being hunted by the Soviet guards, and facing the very real possibility of not only starving, freezing, and going quickly blind, but being turned in by the locals (who were offered a huge reward for the capture of any fleeing prisoner); Janusz makes friends with a rather unlikely crowd; including a former actor (Mark Strong, Robin Hood), an American engineer (Ed Harris, Appaloosa), and a violent criminal named Valka (Colin Farrell, London Boulevard); with whom he escapes the confines of the prison, and begins the walk to freedom.
The journey begins as it continues; by being exceptionally tough; as blinding snowstorms, and the threat of Soviet prison guards and guards dogs, are only the first things the troop have to contend with; as before long their main focus becomes overcoming the very real possibility of starving to death, as they walk through a land which is so harsh that no fruit, and barely any animals, can survive there.
Luckily every man who came along for the escape came with his own useful skillset; Janusz’s being navigation, and motivation, while Mr Smith’s (the American’s) came in the form of fishing, Valka’s was simply the fact that he came with a knife and was good at killing things, and other members’ included cooking, and simply being able to raise the gang’s spirit by making them laugh.
And it’s the spirit of the men that’s one of the most compelling things about the film, because despite everything they go through; the few ups during the long walk (including finding a young girl who wishes to accompany them, and coming across some food when nearly starving, or water when nearly dying from thirst) are masked by the crushing number of misfortunes; including incessant plagues of mosquitos, finding that after braving hundreds of miles of freezing woods they had to cross the plains of Mongolia, the inhospitable Gobi Desert, China, and then the Himalayas (mountains so large they affect the climate of the entire planet, but make up a disappointingly small portion of the film), and watching their friends drop off like flies, they never get too depressed, and somehow always manage to keep walking, constantly heading for the sanctuary of India.
All the way through it’s impossible not to will the men on, and while there’s some members of the group that clearly shine above others, there are no true heroes, villains, or rivalries, within the pack, just a bunch of men that it’s impossible not to respect and admire for what they went through, and the sheer will and determination they exhibited; something which is excellently brought to screen by the film’s cast, and director.
The style used by director Peter Weir (Master and Commander) works extremely well for the film; by keeping a somewhat slow pace (as the walk, did take a full year), but filling the journey with true and interesting moments of hardship, emotion, and action, that ensure it never becomes boring, or seems to drag, as well as constantly filling the screen with landscapes that are clearly beautiful (often looking like they are taken straight out of a David Attenborough documentary), and almost totally engulf the characters within them; heightening the drama, emphasizing the weight and scale of what the men went through, getting you to really care about their fate, and ensuring that you can’t help but be sucked into the story.
Every member of the cast also delivers a strong performance which fully draws you into the inhospitable world of The Way Back, and makes their trails and hardships seem that much more real and immediate; Jim Sturgess is constantly excellent and believable as the group’s highly motivated leader Janusz (right down to his impressive Eastern European accent and Russian speaking, which to an untrained ear, sounds 100% authentic), Ed Harris is as good as he’s ever been, and The Lovely Bones Saoirse Ronan shows once again what a talented actress she is (by playing a vulnerable young girl who accompanies the men on their epic journey, but comes complete with an air of strength, and true onscreen presence), and even though Colin Farrell may give one of the least believable performances of the main cast (and fail to successfully adopt the eastern accent) his portrayal of the criminal Valka is nevertheless compelling, and intriguing.
After watching The Way Back the thing that will stick with you however, is not the picturesque landscapes or the strong and realistic performances of the cast (which were actually aided by some harsh weather and a spot of food poisoning), but just a feeling of sheer amazement and admiration for the men involved and what they managed to endure and survive; as The Way back is a truly epic tale of survival at its finest, one that has to be seen to be believed, and one that’s still too grand to comprehend after watching, but undeniably deserving of respect, and a brilliantly successful story because it gets every viewer asking themselves, “could I have done that?”
It may lack the light-hearted appeal of Little Fockers, and not provide the same spectacle as Tron: Legacy, but The Way back is an excellent drama that tells a brilliant story, is thoroughly captivating, truly inspiring, and is so gripping that it shouldn’t fail to entertain people that don’t even tend to like these types of films; making it not only a great film that you really should brave the snow to go and watch, but easily one of the best films released this Christmas.
The Way Back is due to be released in the U.K. and Ireland on December 26th (Boxing Day), before opening in U.S. markets on January 21st, but for now, the official trailer can be viewed here: https://goodfilmguide.co.uk/the-way-back-trailer/
