The Way Back

It's been a long time since acclaimed Australian filmmaker, Peter Weir, stepped behind the camera (his last film was 2003's Master and Commander), but he finally makes his return with an entertaining, but flawed, story of survival. The Way Back is a beautifully filmed and well-acted old fashioned adventure epic, and were the pacing a bit tighter, this could have been extraordinary. As it stands, this is still a great achievement, thanks to Weir's realistic vision, and his ability to avoid forced sentimentality that usually accompanies Hollywood survival stories.

The film is inspired by a best-selling Polish memoir about a journey on foot across Siberia and the Mongolian desert by a group of escapees from one of Stalin's prisons during World War II. There has been some controversy as to whether or not the book is a hoax, or if the event even happened. Knowing little about the book and the controversy surrounding it, I can't comment, but I will say that Weir directs the film with an unflinching eye toward the harshness of life in the prison camp during the film's opening half hour or so. There's a sense of realism as we witness the prisoners being worked to death, or splitting off into small fractions amongst each other, creating different groups and walks of life within the prison walls. The performances that Weir gets out of his cast also adds to the effect, as everyone here is very understated, and don't play up the melodrama of the situation. They seem like real people who once were living normal lives, and now find themselves facing death and starvation.

The lead prisoner that the screenplay (co-written by Weir) focuses on is a Pole named Janusz (Jim Sturgess), who finds himself in the prison when his wife is forced by the government to testify against him, accusing him of being a spy against Stalin. After a few months of hardships in the camp, Janusz befriends some of his fellow prisoners, and devises a plan to escape to freedom. There are seven in all in the initial group, with key members being an American who goes by the name of Mr. Smith (Ed Harris) and a Russian criminal named Valka (Colin Farrell). As they escape into the woods to begin their journey, I admired the film's sense of detail, such as a sequence that shows them crafting crude masks out of tree bark in order to protect their faces from the biting wind during snowstorms. Along the way, they pick up a runaway teenage girl named Irena (Saoirse Ronan from The Lovely Bones). She creates some tension at first, as the American thinks she'll slow them down, but she proves her worth as a member of the group quickly enough.

The Way Back is a true survival picture. The conflict the characters making the 4,000 mile trek from the prison camp in Siberia and ultimately to India is not with each other, or even with the danger of being caught (although it does rear its head once in a while). It is a battle against the elements, as the group walk across frozen wastelands, mountains, and deserts. Exhaustion, dehydration, and starvation are the main dangers they face along the way. The terrain itself (which is constantly changing throughout the film, and all beautifully shot) becomes the greatest danger. We see how the group hunt for food, deal with insects, and keep each other's spirits up. The fine cast do create a sense of bonding during the course of the film, and we get a sense that they really are going through hell up there on the screen. This is not one of those movies where the hero goes on a great adventure of survival, yet somehow their hair and skin remain remarkably untouched. It's gritty, and the performances drive home the honesty.

That being said, the movie does lack a dramatic focus, which ultimately holds it back from being the great film it could have been. So much of the movie is devoted to the characters walking, that no one really gets a chance to step up and become the heart of the movie that we can relate to. It's not that the characters are unlikable or hard to relate to. It's simply that the script never gets around to making any of the individual members of the group truly stand out. The performances certain stand out, but the characters as they're written needed to stand out more, I felt. If there was more of a dramatic arc, or someone we could really get behind, this movie could have been inspiring as well as honest and well-shot.

But, perhaps Weir is trying to show us how the ordeal ground down these men to the point that they did not really resemble who they once were. It's a valid argument. The characters are forced to act as a unit for much of the film, and while this prevents the movie from finding one character whom we can get behind, it does a good job of showing how these people from different walks of life can band together. Whether intentional or not, I must report on how I felt watching the film, and I admit, I was intrigued the entire time. The pacing is slow, but never boring. And I liked how the film focused on their survival techniques, such as finding water in the desert, or finding other means to stay hydrated when water is not available.

I have a feeling that The Way Back will appeal most to those who like an old fashioned survival in the wilderness story. It's low key and unassuming, but still manages to be quite gripping, thanks to the unflinching style that Weir brings to the film. He's the kind of filmmaker who can make you admire the beauty of nature, while at the same time make you grateful you're watching it from a warm, temperature-controlled theater.

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