It should be said that at the beginning of the film, the director grasped the fluency of the narrative lines quite well. This is a "true" story narrated by people who have experienced it personally. Of course, it is impossible to doubt the true degree of restoration of some parts, and it can only be confirmed that it is basically true. The most difficult thing to do is how to quickly bring the audience into the historical background of the film to relive an unknown historical event. Set in a prison in Siberia under the cold and windy conditions, the prisoners in ragged clothes and starving, the prison guards carrying the Stalinist communist banner, a few simple outlines directly lead to the motive for the escape. In an environment where thugs are rampant and the climate is harsh, survival is the biggest long-cherished wish. Several prisoners with an extraordinary desire to survive got together, and the plan to escape from the prison was almost easy. Because the warden has shouted before - "It's not our guns, our dogs, our barbed wire that make up this prison. Five million square miles of Siberia is your prison." Surviving is the most impossible task. This is of course different from Tom's kind of juggling juggling, but it is based on real historical events. Invisibly, it gives the audience a sense of psychological heaviness. Just like a story that has no suspense at the end, but the process is full of sinister, we will try to feel the various difficulties they encountered at that time. Every now and then I wonder, if it were me, what would I do at this time. To give up, or to continue, is always the hardest choice for each section of the film.
Historical events serve the art of film, but if politics and history are overly ignored, the foundation on which it rests will be shaken, which will easily weaken the shock of art and the resonance of the audience. The atmosphere created by "The Way Back" is a success, there is no doubt about it. From Siberia to Mongolia, then across the desert to the Himalayas, and finally to India. The severe cold, heat, lack of water, lack of food, and even the disasters of mosquitoes suffered along the way were presented to the audience one by one. It made us feel as if we were on the scene and felt all the difficulties and dangers they could encounter along the way, without cutting corners at all. In fact, this is also a major feature of ordinary "Olympic bid" films, which do not hesitate to increase the length of the film to pursue detailed realism. It is not used to earn box office, at most, the theater is a small-scale trial screening, and there is no copper-smelling art work. Just like Jia Zhangke in China, it is very popular, which just shows that the shooting is very successful. But apart from facing the ruthless nature, everything else is peaceful. This is very different from "Van Diemens Land". Of course, the latter is led by ogres, and everything that happens is completely normal. One is the survival of the fittest, and the unfit are eliminated; the other is mutual support and solidarity. The great charm of inspirational films lies! The eight escaped prisoners in "The Way Back" are all good people who are chivalrous, kind and persevering, and even the indomitable old fritters played by Colin Farrell can be kind. The only time he faced a situation where the spirit of a gentleman was overflowing was when he stepped forward to avoid the tragedy of starvation. The inspirational spring breeze of the film is really hearty. It is very suitable as a film and television learning material for the party's advanced education.
Putting in Saoirse Ronan's character was a bit of a twist. Of course, it can be said that this is an artistic technique that enriches the group portraits of characters, or that the real events at that time did have the friendship of such a mysterious beautiful girl. Whether or not her addition has the effect of highlighting the spirit of the film, it actually shows the director's ultimate goal of making this film - winning awards. The contagion is weakened again, and the preaching is again strengthened. Fortunately, the girl finally drove the crane west. While embodying the glorious images of men, it also probably confirmed that this was a figure fabricated out of thin air. Furthermore, the human environment in the film is also unusually harmonious. Originally, I thought that when I arrived in Mongolia, the photo of Stalin I found would create ripples, adding the scene of encirclement and suppression to increase the excitement and tension of the film. I don't want to, but I only mentioned the fur, and took a turn to save the danger. Entering Tibet, the Chinese people warmly and friendly received the distinguished guests from afar, and said that they could live for a long time until the spring. It's true that you see a rainbow after a storm. But also at this time, the protagonist's sentence once again aroused the audience's fighting spirit, "We can't give up, if we stop now, we will succumb to fatigue." After experiencing an unimaginable suffering process, he resolutely gave up the hotbed and shade, and once again challenged the limits of what human beings can endure. This kind of action is accumulated in the end. Not only is it unpretentious, but it is very shocking. I have to admit that, for the purpose of winning awards and catering to academic ideology, this is an excellent model work.
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