Oliver Says THE WAY BACK Is A Tough But Admirable Journey
rating: 3
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It's true: Peter Weir hasn't made a bad film. From his early lesser known triumphs that include perplexing car carnage horror debut The Cars that Ate Paris and claustrophobic thriller The Plummer,through to the award winning likes of Gallipoli, The Year of Living Dangerously and Witness and on to more recent modern classics including Dead Poet's Society and The Truman Show this is a director, not unlike David Cronenberg, who is incapable of churning out a disaster. Even his financial film failings (The Mosquito Coast and Fearless) are intelligent instantly likable affairs. So it's fare to say when walking into a Weir film one's expectations are lifted above the norm. The Way Back, Weir's first film in seven years, is based on the audacious (but probably fictitious) account of the Russian prison escape and subsequent 4,500 trek - from Siberia via the Gobi desert to India - by seven Polish/American prisoners in 1940. With punishing snow/desert terrain the mission appears doomed from the start, however these men ultimately seek freedom and would rather die attempting it than perish as prisoners of Stalin. One thing The Way Back doesn't lack is stamina. And true to form Weir doesn't disappoint. He invests time in allowing us to get to know his characters, shows archetypal skill in weaving out well-rounded performances - of which particular merit must go to a never better Colin Farrell as a gutsy sneaky prisoner type - layers his story with humour and pathos, directs with stylish, confident flare and finally brings us the jaw-dropping spectacle we yearn from such a survival-against-the-odds yarn. To top this there's a marvellously moving score by Burkhard Dallwitz which notches the film up to near Leanesque levels of epic indulgence. But regrettably there's something curiously amiss.