Hey everyone. Capone in Chicago here.
It's tough to find a film by Australian director Peter Weir that I didn't enjoy on some (usually most) level. From 1975's PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK through GALLIPOLI, THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY, WITNESS, THE MOSQUITO COAST, DEAD POETS SOCIETY, FEARLESS, THE TRUMAN SHOW, and his last work, MASTER AND COMMANDER, Weir's movies have always had a kind of depth that most other directors simply don't possess. He knows how to be entertaining, but not at the expense of character. And his telling of the novel "The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom" by Slavomir Rawicz is no exception, telling the horrifyingly real story of a small band of prisoners who escape from a Russian prison in Siberia in 1940 and walk 4,000 miles to India over the harshest terrain and climates the earth has to offer.
The grueling, but wholly satisfying, THE WAY BACK is told through the eyes of Polish prisoner Janusz (Jim Sturgess, an actor I'm growing increasingly fond of with each successive movie he's made since ACROSS THE UNIVERSE and 21). He was framed for being a spy against Russia, and is committed to getting out of this Siberian hellhole as soon as possible. At first, he befriends an actor (a nice cameo from Mark Strong), whose crime apparently was playing a capitalist too convincingly in a propaganda film--an entire film could probably be made about that guy's life. After realizing the actor is all talk, Janusz falls in with a internationally diverse group of men that devise a serious escape plan. Among those men are American Mr. Smith (Ed Harris) and the Russian criminal Valka (Colin Farrell).
Across snow, heartless winds, blazing deserts, the Himalayas, and five nations who would capture the men and send them back to Siberia if given the chance, the group's numbers dwindle for various reasons. But they also add a member to their party, Irena (Saoirse Ronan), a teen girl with secrets galore about how she ended up alone on this brutal terrain.
I'm pretty sure I would have died on this journey in the first 24 hours, so it's incredible to consider the physical damage these travelers must have endured from exposure and lack of food and water. You will likely leave THE WAY BACK hungry and parched. There's an entire segment of the film devoted to their torturous search for water that will result in more than a few trips to the concession stand for drink refills.
There are a couple other members of this party, and I apologize for not knowing the actors' names who play them, because everyone in this film does great work here. I was especially impressed with Farrell's nasty turn as the criminal whose only priority is survival, even if someone else must die. Of course, it turns out he has a softer side, but that never takes away from his venomous performance. The biggest surprise for me was Sturgess, the kindest member of this motley group, a weakness that is exploited from time to time by others. Following great work in recent smaller films like FIFTY DEAD MEN WALKING and HEARTLESS, I'm a total convert to his brooding ways, mainly because he doesn't really brood much any longer. He's the least colorful character in THE WAY BACK, but there has to be some credit given to those who play the emotional centers of a film, around whom the flashier characters revolve around. Sturgess performs this duty beautifully, and gives the movie its emotional focal point.
But a great deal of credit for any emotional pull THE WAY BACK succeeds in emitting has to go to director Weir, who structures his work in a way that simply makes us care about each and every life (and death) in this story. And he pushes his actors and uses his locations in ways I simply haven't seen in a long, long time outside of a documentary. It's likely you will exit THE WAY BACK exhausted and emotionally spent, and that's a good thing because that's the intention. There's really no way you can appreciate the hell it was for these people marching one step at a time on this impossible journey. The film is as much a spectacle as it is adventure story and a character drama, and I love movies that dare to make us care about the individual as much as they want to dazzle us with an unbelievable story like this one. You're in for a rare treat with this offering.
-- Capone capone@aintitcool.com
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