The Way Back

(2010 d. Peter Weir)

7 out of 10

It's no secret that Peter Weir has made some great films. While I don't think this one reaches the levels of previous masterworks, it's still a worthy addition to his canon. The movie is the mostly true story of 3 men who walked 4000 miles on foot. After escaping from a prison camp. Through the frozen wasteland of Sibera. Through the scorching desert of Mongolia. Through Tibet and over the Himalayas into India. The book on which the movie is based is titled, appropriately enough, The Long Walk. After watching this I really have no excuse for not walking the 3 miles to work.

I must confess that it took me a good 20 minutes to accept some of these actors playing these characters. There just seemed something phony and Hollywood about recognizable names affecting Polish and Russian accents. Jim Sturgess as a strong, hardy, motivated political prisoner? But once settled in, I was completely absorbed into these people and their struggles. The acting ends up being one of the strong points here. Ed Harris just radiates weariness and sorrow, Colin Farrell is fantastic as a Russian criminal, and the lesser-known Burcur and Potocean are really really great. And a briefer-than-I-would've-liked appearance by my new favorite actress Saoirse Ronan that proves this girl just might be the next Meryl Streep. The only real acting weakness was Sturgess. I give the guy credit for tackling a difficult role and trying something outside of his typecasting (and he does do a decent job) but when up against these seasoned veterans, his limitations are magnified. I just never fully felt Jim embodied the reality and depth of this character's pain and determination.

The scenery in this film (partially financed by National Geographic) is great. I especially loved how well the movie conveyed the tactile physical sensations. The freezing cold. The starvation. The scorching desert sun. The thirst. And when they find an oasis - ahh, the water!

Also impressive was the lack of emotional manipulation (soaring music, rousing dialogue, etc.) The most affecting (and effective) scenes in the movie were simple, quiet, without music.

The main weaknesses are in the pacing and the editing. Maybe there's a 4 hour director's cut somewhere that resovled these problems? First the pacing. The film spends what feels like a good hour in Siberia - prison life, planning, escaping, surviving. Then we spend the next hour in the desert - surviving, moments of strong emotion, thirst. But then it seems like the producers realized the movie was too long and just wrapped up everything as fast as possible. Getting to Tibet takes minutes, getting over the Himalays mere seconds, and then we're done. While most story issues were resolved by Tibet, cinematically speaking watching a (by reputation a somewhat difficult) journey through majestic snowcapped mountains sounded exciting! I don't like feeling that budget or runtime or shooting schedule robbed me of experiencing the entire journey. I wanted to see all of it. Which was the same problem with the editing. Frequently the scene transitions would skip so much time that they were jarring and sometimes confusing, as if there was footage missing. And it would skip really fascinating stuff. For example, we see them ready to go, the night of the guglag escape and then, bam! cut to: 15km away, free. I wanted to see the actual escape! See also the aforementioned teleporting over the mountains.

But this was still an enjoyable and moving experience. And yes, inspiring. Strong acting, awesome locales, and some fascinating imagery. Including a truly beautiful scene involving the positioning of hands with such quietness and sorrow that I don't think I'll ever forget it. Mr. Weir, please don't wait another 7 years before you direct another film!

The Way Back