An interesting survival epic, but not much more

Rating: 6/10 (11 July 2014)

"The Way Back" details the journey of gulag escapees from Siberia to India. The movie is beautiful, and the landscape scenes carry about as much emotion as the dialogue. This picture would have been beautiful to see in theaters. From Sibera to the Gobi Desert, the cinematography showed landscapes in their stark beauty - and danger. The characters never develop much. Although we know in the group of escapees that there's an artist, an American, a Polish man accused of being a spy, etc., we are never really introduced to the cast in a developed manner.
I give the movie 6 out of 10 stars for invoking an interesting emotional response to the desolation of nature - on the one hand, it's not like The Road with the emotion coming from the terror of desolation. It's also not like Into the Wild where there is a sense of hopelessness. It's in between. This movie isn't about the destination, it's the journey and the solemnity of survival. The landscapes in the Gobi at times reminded me of The Treasure of Sierra Madre. An interesting film, could have been better with more character development and carefully planned drama.