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,

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