If you're looking for a film that makes you feel as if you're suffering along with the protagonists, you have come to the right place. The frustration I felt while watching this film is a testament to the wonderful job of the filmmakers and actors to make the plight of the characters palpable. In my opinion, what is the point of making a film about the very boundaries of human suffering if you do not make the audience feel as if they are suffering along with the main characters? Here, my feeling of frustration began in the Soviet Gulag, which is decently depicted in this film. The audience gets a real sense of the crowding, lice and power structures that were an ever-present part of every concentration camp. I was personally impressed at the addition of Valka's character and the representation of the role that "career criminals" played in the camps as the most powerful men in every barrack, namely because of their ability to incite fear and thus get what they want. It was also nice to see the point raised that some detainees in the camp still supported communism. It is important to see this depicted in the film since it is historically accurate that even though these people were imprisoned by the government, they were still loyal to communism and what it stood for. Consequently, in terms of the films accuracy, I was very impressed for a film about the gulags, which are a highly underrepresented subject in Hollywood. If I could change anything I would have added more casualties to the gulag than were shown in the film. It almost makes the conditions of the camp and the brutality of the environment not look as harsh without the almost constant death that would have defined actual life in the gulags. The feeling of frustration continued as the group escaped and eventually made their way into the desert on the way to India. I kept feeling as if I wanted the scenes in the desert to end so that I would no longer feel the irritation that rose in me as I just watched them walk over miles and miles of desert. I realized later that this was a choice that the directors of the movie consciously made in an attempt to convey to the audience the real frustration and desperation of the characters. Though there is debate about whether or not this walk to freedom did occur, there is no denying that the walk made you feel the pure despair and hopelessness of the protagonists who would go to such lengths to avoid concentration camps. In this sense, I would recommend this film to anyone who is looking for a film about Soviet Gulags. Not only does it provide a painfully real representation of camp life, it conveys the shear desperation that led several men to take on this type of journey. What does it say about the camps that these men would be willing to walk across a continent to escape?

The Way Back is the film adaptation directed by Peter Weir of the book, The Long Walk, written by Slawomir Rawicz. The film is a depiction of the Soviet gulags, but is largely about the escape and trek to freedom by a small group of prisoners. Although the film time that is actually spent in the gulag is short compared with the rest of the film, there are many elements within this section of the movie that are extremely reminiscent of the actual camps. The film depicted the camp economy which is often unexplored in camp films, but was sometimes a major contributing factor to an internee's survival. Additionally, the brutal hierarchy of the criminal class and the extreme punishment of being sent to the mines were some of the greatest dangers for prisoners of the gulags. However, the film does a great job of highlighting the fact that the men were not held prisoner by the fences, but rather by the extreme climate of Siberia. This notion was explored both within the camp as seen by the snowstorm, as well as throughout the film as the characters ultimately died of starvation, fatigue, disease, and dehydration. Although I felt the film did a fair job depicting the decline of the characters, the historicity of the film is very implausible. Although there were 1-2 accounts of gulag prisoners that arrived in India, it was a very small group that did not have an exact reference as to where they came from and how far they travelled. The possibility of 4 men surviving the trek from the northern parts of Siberia to India, especially one being in his later years, is highly implausible. Although this is an inspiring story, possibly based off of true events, it is important for viewers to recognize that this was an outstanding circumstance and the outcome for many others was not survival.

This film, which tells the semi-accurate story of gulag escapees, is beautifully filmed and does a nice job of depicting the basics of "gulag life," but the script, accents, and acting leave much to be desired. I found myself extremely bored - this film needed an editor. The plot is fairly basic - men escape the gulag and walk from Siberia to India. However, the script was dry and I did not find myself attached to any of the characters. Perhaps this is a personal opinion, but I do not understand why a director would cast a british actor and then ask them to speak in a Polish/Russian/Latvian/etc accent. If the viewer knows the character is from a specific country, why must we suffer through two hours of terrible accents. This is a frustrating element of the film. As for the acting, there is not much dialogue, but one can only make walking so interesting. The film's depiction of the gulag, a camp of little cinematic fame, is pretty accurate in terms of how people were interned, how long their sentences lasted, the psychological effects of the gulag, the social dynamics of the camp, and the terrible weather in Siberia. They only spend the first ten or fifteen minutes of the film in the actual camp, so I would not consider this a "camp film."

The Way Back, directed by Peter Weir, tells the story of several Siberian gulag inmates and their escape to freedom. This film does a good job at what it was meant to do: entertain. Being able to follow the characters through their treacherous journey was exciting to watch, and sad to see so many likeable people die. In terms of an educational film on the horrors of the gulag, it did a very good job, though it was quite brief in comparison to the rest of the movie. The very first scene portrayed the feelings that many Russians felt upon being interned. The scene used a lot of minimalism, limiting the screen to 3 wide shots, one for each character. It felt almost disorienting for the audience. We have no perception of who these characters are, why this man is being accused, why his wife is seemingly betraying him, the sheer callousness of the guard as he refers to them as "accused" and "witness". This confusion was also felt by many inmates, as they were often interned for false, almost arbitrary reasons. The scenes within the camp were the highlight of the film as they were able to tell so much about life within these camps, with so little time spent there. Some noticeable sections that were displayed were the trade micro-economy that existed within these camps, demonstrated by the exchanges of cigarettes, meats, and clothing; the existence of a hierarchy ruled by the criminal class; and the presence of various prisoners forming groups based off of reason for internment, whether it was criminals or political internees. The cinematography was also especially strong within the camps. The extreme wide shots of the neighboring mountains truly portrayed the expanse and isolation of this camp. The fences were not the jail, the environment was. The shots demonstrated the impossibility of escape, and the hopelessness that the inmates felt. Inside of the mine was another highlight. The stage presence of smoke, falling rocks, and orange filters created a sense of exhaustion, claustrophobia, and disease, all of which were truly present in the mines. Working there was essentially a death sentence, and this concept was heavily felt. One noticeable flaw in the film was the lack of starvation within the inmates and those travelling. The makeup was well done and believable, but in terms of physicality, everyone looked pretty well fed. There was one scene where a man was begging for food, but that was the extent to which the hunger was shown. Overall though, this film was strongest in the beginning, but still fun to watch throughout.