A long walk would be better for you than watching this...

Rating: 5/10 (14 April 2011)

I watched this with only a basic understanding of what the background was to the story. Also - I did not know previously that it was Peter Weir's first film for 7 years. He should have stayed where he was.
The premise of the story is an extraordinary one - a group of prisoners escape from a Siberian Gulag during the second world war and manage to walk all the way to India. Amazing stuff - especially as it is supposed to be true. However, the articulation of this story left me disappointed.
The opening credits tell you the entire story from start to finish through the use of a couple of sentences. Because of this - the whole dynamic of 'what will happen next?' is taken from the viewer, as we already know the end.
Anyway - that disappointment aside - the story starts off well enough and a strong early performance from Mark Strong augers well. Then what? The escape happens - off screen - and no more Strong. Things then seem to take the repetitive, undramatic route as we embark on our looooooong journey. Essentially the weak story goes like this: - escape Gulag - start walking through Siberia - encounter hardships - somebody dies - start walking through Mongolia - encounter hardships - somebody dies - start walking through China, Tibet....etc etc. you get the picture until we end up in India. And that's it !!!
I ask myself - "So what?"
The characters are one dimensional at best. I got to the stage where I couldn't tell one from the other. And as for the Polish / Russian accents. They may be authentic - I don't know - but the fact that I see two Irish actors (Farrell and Ronan) with strange accents didn't help matters.
Acting: Farrell is good here to be honest. He carries that menace and unpredictability around with him with great aplomb. His accent though sullies it for me. Harris and Ronan are okay too. However, Burgess didn't do it for me. His presence, or lack of it, let the film down I fear. But he is new enough to this game so it might get better for him - if he gets another chance.
Photography: As you would expect - the landscape dominates the story and is captured beautifully.
Overall - watching the film was just as much of an endurance test as the walk itself. And the rushed ending twee to the extreme.
Poor - 5/10.