The Way Back is a 2010 film by the Australian director Peter Weir. You can watch it right now on Amazon Prime Video. I remember this film being around for what felt like an eternity. It sat in the purgatory of my watchlist, always passed over for something newer or shinier. Somehow it felt like homework, a designation it doesn’t deserve.
The film follows the remarkable story of a group of Gulag prisoners who escape Siberia and make an impossible trek to India. It is based on a 1956 novel that purports to be true. However, in recent times the veracity of the story has come into question. Regardless, this rough outline provides a compelling tale to craft this film around.
Our main character is Polish prisoner, Janusz (Jim Sturgess) whose wife is forced under torture to betray him to the Communists. Janusz is sent to the Siberia Gulag, essentially a death sentence. In the Gulag we begin to meet our cast of characters. Ed Harris plays Mr. Smith, a rare American prisoner who keeps to himself. Colin Farrell is Valka, a gambler and true criminal who is part of the ruffians who run the inside. Mark Strong shows up as Khabarov, a former actor who befriends Janusz early on.
Janusz has four other friends who escape with him, but they hardly make an impression while in the Gulag. Recognizing characters early on is always a difficulty in films like this. Everyone is dirty, has grown a beard, and generally looks the same. It’s not until you spend enough time with the characters that they begin to form into their own personas.
It sounds strange to say it, but I really enjoyed spending time in the Gulag. Each character had their own thing. Whether it was hope for escape, gambling, drawing pictures, or being the loner. The dynamics of the prison hierarchy was compelling. In some ways I felt I could have spent the entire film in that world, a Siberian Great Escape without the obvious charms from the original.
In the Gulag I was especially drawn to Mark Strongs character, Khabarov. He gave a brilliant performance in what could have been a nothing part. He infected the character with an eccentric energy that was such the opposite of the other captives. Sadly though, he didn’t survive the escape attempt.
Once escaped the film begins to breathe and expand through the stunning on-location photography. Grand vistas and stark desert wastes all combine to provide a real and tangible backdrop. The pure cinematic filmmaking of The Way Back elevates the movie. It’s this realism that I feel is too often missing in more recent films. Perhaps we didn’t know what we had at the time.
Of good things we didn’t know we had, Peter Weir should be first on the list. Many will recognize his films, but not the director himself; Picnic at Hanging Rock, Dead Poets Society, The Truman Show, Master and Commander. These are all great films, but different in so many ways. Weir lacks the distinct stylings of an Auteur know for a technique, a visual motif, or emotional theme (think Wes Anderson here). Yet he is not simply a gun for hire devoid of artistry.
The Way Back ends up being considerably robust for the last film from a middle class director who probably is not discussed enough.
The indelible Saoirse Ronan shows up as Irena, a victim of the world at war, who seeks the company of the men for protection and food. The hardened escapees are resistant at first, hellbent on nothing but their own survival. However, their human nature overcomes the fear of survival and they slowly welcome her her into the group. She becomes the emotional center of the gang, drawing them together, forcing conversation and an opening of thought and emotion. Protecting her seems to provide a purpose and will for some as they cross the god forsaken barrens of the West China desert.
Despite Irena, it is a very masculine film - devoid of any real deep emotional connection. Discussing the trauma of their past is a last gasp effort at this connection. I didn’t connect with those moments. I felt nothing, it was too late. The gesture seemed tacked on as if a producers note. Perhaps the film so overwhelms with the sheer physical struggle that there is nothing left to feel.
Not every endeavor needs a deep emotional depth. Film, after all, is about sight and sound, and The Way Back certainly delivers. The cast is incredible. Colin Farrell is at the beginning of his post In Bruges run of transforming into the greatest of character actors and we get Ed Harris, who has never not been good.
The Way Back is deserving of rediscovery and reexamination and left me most pleasantly surprised.
“You say too many prayers for an innocent man.”
Musical Pairing: Helplessness Blues, Fleet Foxes