Review of The Way Back (2011) by Elliot N — 21 Aug 2011

The Way back is Peter Weir's first film for seven years, his last film Master and Commander (which I am not a big fan of) is a popular one. His next project is an inspiring tale of a human beings determination, will and accomplishments in what seemed an impossible and colossal task but they succeed against all odds. The Way Back does this following a magnificent trek across vast and contrasting landscapes, some hot, some cold. A Way Back is a great example of human beings survival instincts and their dogged determination.

Based on a true story (so they claim) The Way Back tells the story of a 4000mile trek to freedom after an escape from a Russian Gulag during the brutal reign of Stalin. The 4000 mile trek consisted of the largest mountain range in the world (the Himalayas) scorching deserts and freezing wildernesses topped off many feet of snow. Rather than the wires, guns and men, the country of Siberia was their prison. The epic travellers had to deal with hypothermia, heat stroke and communists (the worst issue that they had to face, obviously).

In terms of the visuals and the locations The Way Back is epic, the excellent cinematography expertly shows the vastness of the wildernesses that these six men had to cover. The snow topped trees are staggeringly beautiful yet that the same time they are foreboding as it dawns up on you the gigantic distances that these men had to cover. It is a beautiful but deadly landscape. The mountains sheer size are clearly evident and the endless deserts are terrifying and shocking. Peter Weir makes full use of some of his locations (the locations were Bulgaria, Morocco, and India) showing the full challenge and the seemingly impossible goal that these men (and one women who joins them later on the trip) were attempting to achieve. It is a heroic achievement. However these spectacular landscapes, huge mountains ranges, blistering desert and freezing wastelands make every other aspect of The Way Back seem tiny in comparison as despite the films 142 minute running time Peter Weir creates very limited character among those attempting this impressive feat.

In terms of spectacle The Way Back maybe the size of Mount Kilimanjaro (not quite Everest) but the characters tend to get dwarfed by the landscapes, you feel as distant to them as one would if you were the one standing in the locations that they trekked across. While all the characters are likeable, they never are entirely engaging, despite the performances, the main character, Janusz, played quite effectively by Jim Sturgess, is the one who is most lost amongst the mountains and deserts more than any other character. The lack of interesting character's for the two hour plus running time results in The Way Back being less epic then it should have been. You see the men's struggles and toils but you never feel their struggles and toils. The Way Back, on an emotional level is only moderately effective.

One of my grievances with The Way Back is Peter Weir's decision tell the end of the story right at the very start because of this the sense of adventure is lost, the tension is lost, personally I feel that there is a lack of truly tense scenes, there are not any really close shaves to help The Way Back take that extra step in entertaining the viewer. Despite all the dangers that the characters are put under their deaths feel ineffective, they feel nothing more than just a plot point and this is another reason for the sense of adventure being lost despite the jaw dropping landscapes. That being said The Way Back is a mostly interesting and inspirational journey until the last act when it slips into Hollywood clichés and cheesy sentimentality but overall The Way Back is an intriguing film and for most part an entertaining ride looking at a human's will to conquer the impossible. Further problems arise when the brutality of Stalin's reign is never fully investigated, though use of torture to extract information is obvious despite none of it occurring on-screen, unless the torture was conducted by Mother Nature, and selling the story as a 'true story' is nothing short of a lie. It's fiction.

Adopting Russian, Polish, Latvian and other Eastern European accents the actors all do an impressive job, even the accents stop bothering you as the movie progresses but at times Colin Farrell's Russian accent can be hard to understand and most of main casts accents sway on occasions during different scenes. At first the English-speaking Russian accents can feel uncomfortable but quickly the viewer grows accustomed to it. Actors adopting accents is far better than actors playing Russian speaking characters with English or American accents. Apart from the stunning scenery and cinematography The Way Back is an unremarkable film and with its intriguing premise, it's setting in the most brutal reign in 20th century history and with Peter Weir at the helm The Way Back is slightly disappointing. Peter Weir is a talented director and perhaps he should have squeezed more character out of the 142 minute running time however despite all of this The Way Back is a serviceable film for some decent entertainment.

The Way Back maybe wonderful to look at the locations are truly staggering the characters are less so, no matter how good the actors performances are. Peter Weir spends too little time developing his character's so that the audience never really engages with them. The lack of tension play's it part too in preventing The Way Back from being a true adventure film, you can imagine their pain but their pain and sufferings are never fully shown.

3/5.