The Long Walk

"The Way Back," a film based on the book, "The Long Walk, The True Story of a Trek to Freedom," was recently released.  In spite of reasonably solid reviews its performance at the Box Office is so far disappointing. 

Peter Weir, the film's director, has an impressive resume.  "Witness," "Dead Poet's Society," and "The Mosquito Coast" to name a few.  The quality of his work in film does not age.  "Dead Poet's Society" holds up as well today as when it was released.  "Master and Commander," the last film Weir directed, was a beautiful film.  Some thought it a little slow, or even boring, and they may have been unsatisfied with the story arc.  But for me, it was like watching an engrossing oil painting set in motion.  There are few, if any films, that capture the essence of life at sea when England fought to rule the waves as effectively.  Given the quality of his prior films, I think that Weir's recent work, "The Way Back," will be a movie that will grow in the minds of the movie going public. 

If Weir was able to capture an era and place for "The Way Back" as effectively as he did in "Master and Commander" then I'll be satisfied from a movie goer's perspective.  But the story itself is more than a mere movie going experience.  "The Way Back" is based on a book written in the nineteen-fifties by ghost writer Ron Downing.  Downing had originally been searching for stories about the Yeti.  This lead him to a man who claimed to have crossed the Himalayas.  Downing based "The Long Walk" on his interviews with the man from Poland, Slawomir Rawicz, to whom his Yeti research had lead.  Downing determined that the story he wanted to tell wasn't about the Yeti; rather it was Rawicz's trek over the Himalayas, and more importantly, the reason for the incredible feat.  Rawicz recounted an escape from a Soviet Siberian labor camp and a harrowing journey through snow blanketed Siberia, into vast deserts, and over the Himalayan mountains.  It was an incredible story of survival.  I read "The Long Walk" a couple of years ago and recently read it again. It does detract from the awe of the story that there is solid evidence to suggest Rawicz's part in the story was false.  True or not, it is a striking piece of literature and Rawicz tells his story from the well of the human soul. The result is a poetic expression of an understanding of, and genuine compassion for, people who act not only heroically, but kindly in the direst of circumstances.  On the surface this focus on human compassion seems odd, given the nature of his experience, or the experience of his character, as a captive of the Soviet Union and the depradations suffered from the gulags, the forced march, and the labor camp. 
 
Whether it was Rawicz who experienced the happenings depicted in the book, or his recounting of another's experiences, or if altogether fiction, I can't say definitively.  It's hard, however, to accept that the entire story was fabricated.  Some things are difficult to manufacture from pure fiction.  I find many of the small, seemingly unimportant objects noticed by Rawicz's character striking and perceptive.  Rawicz has a genuine affection for the characters he claims to have suffered severe hardship with.     
 
Be it as it may, fiction, partial fiction, or truthful, the book is well worth the time to read it.  Once read, it will never be forgotten.  As for transferring this story to the big screen there are a couple critical elements that I hope Weir incorporates in his interpretation. While the hardship and toil certainly draw attention to the story, it was that ever present Christian charity, so often expressed in small but powerful ways that was the heart and soul of Rawicz's book.  The picture Rawicz paints is a scathing rebuke of Marxist philosophy, something that is taboo or even heretical in today's Hollywood.  Nonethess, to be true to the author's intent, it should be blatantly clear in the film to stay true to the source material.  It should also be evident that Rawicz was proud of his beloved Poland and made no apologies for his love of his homeland. This notion of unabashed nationalism often expressed by Rawicz, or his character, is of itself anethema to Marxist and Leninist doctrine, both of which invisioned the elimination of sovereign states and the rise of a global proletarian dictatorship.  (Stalin's brand of communism was much different and far more Russian nationalist owing to the events of WWII.)  These underlying themes are what drove the character to endure such hardship.  It wasn't for fun or adventure.  It was to find a path back to the free democracies of the West. 
 
If the film is a film about survival in a harsh environment only, it will be a long, tedious trek of misery - even if it is beautifully filmed.  We might as well have some fun and watch a few episodes of "Man vs. Wild" and "Survivorman" then debate who's best at entertaing and who's best at surviving.  But if the film incorporates the underlying themes of the source material, it will be an uplifting experience and a good reminder of how precious liberty is and what a man will endure to find it again once its lost.