The Way back

[raj101]

Yes, i went to the cinema in exam week, but this was good morale fodder, this movie.

good film, not really dull, just felt a bit .... well.... it trivialised the journey a little bit, mainly because it skirts much of the journey for the purpose of a 2 hour movie, and kept itself fairly cosmetic. It seemed a bit to easy, if you get me, no one seemed really THAT ill to die on the journey. When someone did die, they closed their eyes an just were dead tooo quick! kinda unrealistic. NO long drawn out death that would typify a desert crossing. The main leader guy seemed to be smiling through most of his hardships lol. No one seemed to lose weight, even in the makeup department. When people died, its almost as if they were being apothesised, but maybe that was ther style of the film. Dont get me wrong, mind, its a heartrending struggle. I expected it to be more animal, dog-eat-dog. I thought Colin Farrell was going to backstab someone, or Ronan was going to get raped. But it wasnt like that at all. the trekkers really cared for each other, which actually makes you cry when you think about it. Then being in the worst situation in the world, yet most human in that. they didnt need to become animals to cross to India, they made it because they wanted to remain human. Perhaps people were really like that back then more than we are today. the lengths they went to in looking after each other was unbelievable. lol even the prison guards had some humanity about them! - which is good in that they werent one dimensional thugs.

the film also chose to trivialise character build up, which is a mild loss.

The issue has been raised about the crossing being impossble, but i do believe in this day and age we are forgetting how much stronger people were only 80 years ago, when ordinary people walked miles to go shopping. i recall walking thru wimbledon one day and this grannie who must have been 80 was lugging her shopping bags up a bridge and home... that would be unthinkable for a twentysomething to do today. they really were different people to us - cue the deluge of 30-somethings with cardiac problems in the next few decades.....

So really its that feel good film that comes out in January, the one that wants to restore your faith in human nature. A good performance from Farrell, and even the kid managed to avoid her american accent for most of the movie (except her deathbed scene, where she suddenly got up and said 'i'm fiiiiiiiiineee' in her best USA accent).

i think it might have been better if we werent told they'd made it at the beginning of the film - more suspense then rather than trying to guess which ones would make it. hey btw, thats not a spoiler, you are told that right at the beginning! despite the authenticity of the tale being doubted, it must be true that many many did try to cross Siberia to escape gulag, so its not at all unbelievable.


And finally, a damn fine closing sequence to the movie!

[Beate]

Time to update your film tally then, methinks! Or did you - gasp - p*y?

[raj101]

lol if it means procrastinating from studying then aye!

[soonforgotten]

I loved this. Yes, it's a bit plodding but I thought it represented their struggle well. I don't think the deaths were so sudden. I think given what they had been through and who knows what condition they were in to begin with, it's not so unrealistic that their bodies would just give out. Personally, I thought Saoirse Ronan really shined in her role and considering how many people she shared the screen with, had as much to do as anyone.

Ed Harris is so ridiculously underrated. He was fantastic, as he always is. It was a great ensemble effort all around, even from Colin Farrell. Shame Mark Strong isn't in it for very long, though.

I thought it was great that they mixed the languages so well. It was a perfect balance of subtitles, Russian, Polish and whatever other languages were spoken. It kept things feeling realisitic. The ending was pretty heart-warming too. I thought it was really great stuff, even if it wasn't the most exciting film out there. 9/10

[TheDude]

I got very thirsty and hungry watching this... [spoiler]I thought the ending was incredibly sad, that he had to wait decades to go back to his wife having missed all that time in exile.[/spoiler] Good film but I don't think I could sit through it again.

[yogi]

Very good movie and worth seeing in a cinema just for the grand scenery.

Obviously has an epic feel due to the epic nature of the journey, but within that everyone has their own personal battle to overcome on top of the struggle against the elements.
This is helped by the fact it never resorts to cliche, as others have said, not much actually happens apart from the walking - the infighting, dangerous set pieces are all absent and help focus more on the group, their internal struggles and ultimately their struggle against Communism.

All the performances are top notch, especially Ed Harris, even Colin Farrell is slowing winning me over after In Bruges and this.

Was all set to give it a solid, well made 7.5 until the ending, which I thought was outstanding and really underlined what drove them all. Be warned, tissues may be needed.

So, extra point for the ending. 8.5/10 from me.