The Way Back

Look at those poor men.

They've got night blindness.

I saw it in the transit camp.

It's vitamin deficiency|from starvation.

Here, here.

You planning on surviving|on half rations, son?

Look, he's an old man.

I'm an old man.

I'll be alive in the morning.|He won't.

Kindness.

That can kill you here.

He's American.

In Here? How?

Stalin hates foreigners,

and that includes Poles.

You're Polish, no?

I like you Poles.

Your burning sense of injustice,

the yearning for freedom.

Khabarov...|Andrei Timofeyevich.

Weiszczek... Janusz.

Your charge, may I ask, Janusz?

A spy.

That's what they told me.

Ten years?

No. 20.

And you were on Soviet side of line,

and they arrest you.|They accuse you of spying.

Torture you?

Did you sign confession?

No.

No, I wouldn't sign,

so they... they tortured|someone else.

Forgive me.

I was actor.

Moving pictures.

In my last picture,|I played aristocrat.

They arrested me when the film|was released.

Why?

It was claimed

I was elevating the status|of the old nobility.

So you got ten years|for a performance in a film.

I've had better notices.

Nyet.

The Urki.

Do you know who these are?

Professional criminals.

Murderers and thieves.

Don't stare at them.

The guards let them|run things in here,

and they are to be feared.

Then why would they|let them run things?

Because they are byproduct|of bourgeois society

and so friends of people.

We are political prisoners|and so enemies of people.

The Soviet Union|has become one vast prison.

Slave labor.

They are from far reaches|of Soviet Empire,

all caught up in same net.

And do any of them|wriggle out of the net?

No, Janusz.|You must be more careful.

Stalin has eyes|and ears everywhere,

even in here.

If you are not more careful,

you will die after one year.

If not literally,

then spirit.

And how long have you|been in here?

Eleven months and 29 days.

You do for me.

You want me to draw you?

No. Not me.

Lice?

Eating me alive.

For that I have|old folk remedy. Come.

The mine.

They blast at night.

What are you doing?

We must be quick.

Or this will not be|here in the morning.

You're going to|leave it here overnight? Why?

You'll see.

It can be done.

I know a way through the wire.

How?

Lazar, my associate,

he is overseer|of construction.

He showed me.

If you ever escape the camps,

and I've been waiting|so long for someone like you,

someone with the strength,

the will to see it through.

But to go where?

I mean, we can't go west.

I mean, apart from the Germans,|there's the Soviets.

And east, all Soviet|right to the Pacific.

No, no, no, no.

North. Have to be...|have to be south.

Correct.

But do you know where we are?|I mean, exactly?

I beileve we are about 500 kilometers|north of Lake Baikal.

This is the lake.

Camp is here.

And the border is here.

We could follow the edge|of the lake here.

That runs due south.

Exactly. Then we cross|the Trans-Siberian Railway

to the Mongolian border|and freedom.

Spring is already upon us.

We will have to wait|till autumn.

No. Why wait?

Why?

Because it is a thousand kilometers|to the border, maybe more.

We need careful planning.|We need to stockpile food.

I've already begun|trading, dealing.

You must do the same.

And in autumn,|the weather is more predictable.

We can use the new snow|to cover our tracks.

And we bring my friends.

Your friends? You trust them?

Of course.

They won't all survive.

But they will die free men.

Free.

That's a really brave man!

First we need big branches!

One on each side|and then one on the back!

Help me, Kazik.

These down there,|put it there on the branch.

Yes, yes.

Follow me.|We'll both go like this.

What?

Good.

Yes. Put it there.

Zoran! Your blanket!

For a wind break.

Get in. Come on.

Come!

Please come with us!|We have shelter!

I am Zoran, Yugoslav.|That's Janusz.

And he's Kazik.

Horodinsky.

They are Polish.

Voss. I'm Latvian.

It's a League of Nations.

And you are?

Smith.

And your first name.

Mister.

Mr. Smith.

That's right.

Might as well have|shot us yesterday.

We're for the mines.

These collars same as used by|ancient Egyptian people.

Yes, but on their|horses, probably.

No. No, no, no.|Same for people.

How do you know?

I was professor of Egyptology,

Leningrad University.

Are you crazy?|They'll shoot you.

I've got to get out of here.

I have to get back.

I have to get back.

It can be done.

What can be done?

He knows a way|through the wire.

He has a plan.

Shh. Who has a plan?

His name is Khabarov.

The actor.

Do you know him?

He has no intention|of escaping.

What do you mean?

He's a liar.

He's been here for years.

Seeks out new arrivals.

Me, when I first came here.

He just likes to talk|about escape.

I've known others like him.

Why should I believe you?

Nothing is for nothing|in the camps.

From you he gets your energy,|your spirit.

You feed his dream of escape.

You help keep him alive.

He's nothing but a leech.

You are a cold bastard, Mister.

I'm still alive,|that's all I know.

But I won't be|in another six months,

and neither will you.|Not here.

Not in these mines.

But if you are serious...

really serious about|making a run for it...

I'm with you.

I thought you were a loner.

It can't be done alone.

Besides,|you have a... a weakness.

You could be useful to me.

And what is that?

Kindness.

If anything happens to me,

I'm counting on you|carrying me.

Khabarov.

Khabarov, come.

What?

Come with me. Now.

What is it? What? What?

Come. Look at this.

Look at this.

We can go.|We can go tonight.

The storm will cover|our tracks.

No, no, no. What are you talking about?|It's a passing storm!

No, it's enough.

Janusz, that is impossible.

We need... we need|detailed preparation,

we need plans,|we need maps.

No, no, the timing|will never be perfect.

Look, they won't expect it now.

Are you crazy?

What about the distances?

It's, it's a thousand kilometers,|and we need food.

Plenty of food.

But, but we have food.|You have food.

Look, the American|is with us.

We've been trading,|just like you said.

How long will that last?

Look, I've spent half my life

In the woods and mountains.

We can live off the land.

You don't understand.|You are too young.

It cannot be done.

What else is there?

You hear me?

To stay here and die?

It cannot be done.

Andrei! How do we|get through that wire?

I don't know|what you are talking about.

Your friend Lazar...

I mean, he knows, doesn't he?

You told me that.

Piss off now.

You can't see, can you?

Please don't leave me behind.

Promise me, Andrejs.

I can hold onto|your shoulder by night.

I can... I can see shapes.

By day I can see just fine.

I won't hold you up.

Please don't tell the others.

In here, I die.

Swiss.

There are no secrets here.

What do you want?

The game goes against me.

Small debt, they take fingers.

Big debt, they take head.

Me, big debt.

But I never gambie my Wolf.

In forest, you need knife,

and I need miracle.|Get me out of here.

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