Very dramatic, but also historically accurate

Rating: 7/10 (3 April 2018)

This film was truly an experience to watch. The events of this film are based on the story recounted by Slavomir Rawicz, a polish army lieutenant who managed to escape from a Siberian gulag during the second world war and walked to freedom in India. Peter Weir uses this story and some imagination to produce the sometimes fantasy-like plot for the film. In the opening scenes, Janusz, the protagonist, is being interrogated on charges of spying for the Allied powers, but refuses to sign a confession even after his wife is forced to falsely testify against him. This sort of corruption was not unusual in the USSR during this time, further developing the exposition for the film. The film also does a great job of depicting the experiences of prisoners in these gulags. Upon their arrival, the commandant of the camp explains the true viciousness and harshness of the natural environment in these camps, and that this ought to be feared more so than the guards, officers or work. This is an accurate picture of the gulags, especially in Siberia, where bitter-cold temperatures, sudden storms and other harsh conditions took the lives of both prisoners and guards at only marginally different (but still alarming) rates. Work in these camps was often tough labor like the logging shown in the film, and was possibly even more dangerous than the film depicted. Trees would often fall on people, accidents often occurred that resulted in serious injuries, and there are recorded incidences of people who chose to harm themselves to get a reprieve from this dangerous environment.
In addition to the work and conditions, the types of prisoners in the gulags depicted in the movie were also accurate to a great extent. Gulag populations were far from homogeneous, and often held career criminals, political prisoners, and many common people who were charged falsely with some crime, as well as people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. The career criminals often took control of the prisoner population, and were able to manipulate others in the camp to get what they wanted. Often times, the guards even supported this behavior. Similarly, there were people of all walks of life, all levels of health, and all manners of allegiance to the soviet order. While many of the main characters were in open opposition to the Soviet system, people like Valka - who still praised Stalin even after escaping the camp - did exist.
Overall this film paints a relatively accurate picture of gulag life, and the types of conditions seen within the camps. The characters are at times overplayed, and the story itself becomes slightly monotonous after a period of time, but I would recommend this film to anyone interested in a story of true human will.