Peter Weir is undoubtedly one of the most interesting directors ever. This is not only due to his versatility, which he has demonstrated several times with the media tragicomedy ‘The Truman Show’, the undercover thriller ‘The Only Witness’ and the seafaring epic ‘Master And Commander’. The Australian filmmaker also has a talent for beautiful images and great emotions, without ever being forced or clumsy. Instead, Peter Weir believes in the power of cinema and revives it again and again with each of his works.
His last directorial work to date, the adventure “The way back – The long way“ from 2010 can be seen today, February 19, 2024 at 11:15 PM on NDR. If you miss this date, you can currently stream the FSK 12 title on the Netflix schedule.
Although the film ultimately falls short of the class of Peter Weir’s previous works, it is still responsible for a visually stunning viewing experience with a top-notch cast including Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, Saoirse Ronan, Mark Strong and Jim Sturgess, based on true events .
That’s what ‘The Way Back’ is about
Poland in 1940: In the Soviet-occupied part of the country, Polish cavalry officer Janusz (Jim Sturgess) is accused of making negative comments about the USSR and its leader Josef Stalin. As punishment, he is exiled to a Siberian prison camp for twenty years. There he meets political rebels and criminals who exercise tyranny under the eyes of the guards in the camp. With actor Khabrov (Mark Strong), Janusz decides to leave the camp south across the Soviet-Mongolian border.
He hears from the American Smith (Ed Harris) that Khabarov is an impostor. But the young Pole does not give up. Together with the brutal gangster Valka (Colin Farrell), Janusz and Smith escape. Also involved: the Yugoslavian accountant Zoran (Dragos Bucur), the artist Tomasz (Alexandru Potocean), the 17-year-old Kazik (Sebastian Urzendowsky) and the Latvian priest Voss (Gustaf Skarsgard). On the dangerous journey through deserts, steppes and forests, they soon meet the young Polish Irena (Saoirse Ronan)…
An escape over 6,500 kilometers
Peter Weir has adapted the memoirs of Polish Gulag prisoner Slavomir Rawicz, published here under the title “The Long Way: My Escape from the Gulag”. It describes in detail how Rawicz once managed to travel more than 4,000 miles from Siberia to India as part of a community of unequal fate. The adaptation has become an adventure that is not only cinema through and through, but also highlights one of Peter Weir’s leitmotifs: the unstoppable urge for freedom.
In the official FILMSTARTS review, “The Way Back” received a good 3.5 out of 5 possible stars. Our author Jan Görner writes: “’The Way Back’ tells a deeply humanistic story about the unconditional desire for freedom. The film is in the tradition of Weir’s great achievements such as ‘The Truman Show’ or ‘Dead Poets Society’.”
The fact that ‘The Way Back’ grabs you from the first minute is thanks to Weir’s regular cameraman Russell Boyd, who knows how to capture the beauty and danger of nature in impressive images. From the start, it is made visually clear that the real problem is not the Gulag’s borders, but its borders 13 (!) million square kilometers of Siberian ruthlessness, which extends in all directions. It is also not a question of whether the refugees are being persecuted. The emphasis is strictly on the protagonists.
Although ‘The Way Back’ often contains depressing passages that focus on the group’s suffering – such as the terrible hunger – the film is ultimately optimistic and life-affirming. Weir not only relies on the beautiful images, but also, in the best old-fashioned way, on his wonderful actors: “It tells the story of seven people who look at the infinite expanse of the Siberian taiga and all see something different. Each of the characters has their own legitimate perspective, their own motivation, and this comes to life on screen.”