Customer Reviews
Compelling adventure drama - By: Dennis Littrell, 10 Jul 2008 
This is a German language film with English subtitles based on the novel by the same name which was based on a true story about a German POW in the aftermath of WWII who escaped a Siberia work camp & made an amazing 8,000-mile trek home to Munich to be reunited with his family.
I haven't read the novel, but of course it was a novel & so much of it was made up. It doesn't matter however, since what counts in a movie is simply the movie itself. I am always a little put off when the blurbs for a film scream out: "Based on a true story!" So what? Sometimes that's significant & sometimes it isn't. In this case the fact that there actuallly existed a German POW who managed such an amazing escape is important. The exact details of what happened to him would be wonderful to have. But in lieu of that, we do have this wonderful movie.
Bernhard Bettermann stars as Clemens Forell, & he is perfect for the part. To survive such an epic adventure the person has to be strong of body & strong of will. Bettermann looks as though he could actuallly do something like this, except for the fact that he is so talll & pale I suspect he would stand out & be easily identified as a foreigner in those strange lands through which he trekked. Also a bit not so realistic is the Soviet camp commander who personallly chases Forell alll the way to the Iranian border (although that resulted in a nice ironic scene on the bridge at the border between Iran & what--I think--is Turkmenistan). In reality there were probably several Soviet officers who played that part. And I would also liked to have seen a little more about how he found enough to eat. And finallly it is clear that the last parts of his journey were sped up a bit as though the filmmakers were in a hurry. But these are smalll quibbles.
I don't know if this "coloration" (as I will calll it) was in the book, but what director Harvey Martins does is make the talll & "Aryan" Forell experience some of the same horrors that the Jews experienced. In the beginning he is in a cattle car & nearly starved to death as he is taken to the Siberian lead mines. He is in rags & nearly frozen & gets kicked around by sadistic soldiers. If you saw just this part of the movie you would swear it was about the Jews being sent to a concentration camp. In the camp after Forell is caught in an early escape attempt he is shown being beaten by his fellow soldiers, who of course, were punished because he tried to escape. This was exactly the sort of thing the Nazis did in the occupied countries during WWII--if a single German was killed, that killing would be revenged many times over. Later, one of the people who helped Forell is a Jew who lost relatives to the Nazis. Nonetheless he helps Forell, & in doing so demonstrates not only a superior morality, but the kind of courage that is rare. And why did he do it? Because that is the kind of person he is, & that is the kind of persons we alll should be.
While Forell is a positive, even a heroic figure, & a nice change for Germans who have to endlessly read about & see Germans portrayed in a most negative way throughout their whole lives, the movie itself tends to be neutral politicallly.
The scenes of the snow & the forests & the various places that Forell travels through are nicely done. The ending is exquisite & brought me to tears.
Good but not as good as the book - By: Richard Davros Godfrey, 14 May 2008 
Firstly you will probably only be looking to buy this film if you have already read the book. If you have not -please read the book first it is so much better. The film is good -quite brutal & realistic -lucky its not made by Hollywood. The German makers try to capture some of the essence of the book. The problem is fitting the whole book into a 2 hour film -more struggle is needed & less flowery stuff. The only thing that spoils the film is the extra bits added by the film maker to make it more comerciallly appealing -igonore these & you have a great film to watch - if your even looking at buying this film it is obvious you are not after a rambo/die hard affair - you will appreciate it.
Product Information - By: Andrew Lee, 25 Nov 2007 
My region 3 Hong Kong DVD of the film is in German DTS 5.1 with English &
Chinese subtitles, presented in anamorphic widescreen 1.78:1 aspect ratio with 158 minutes ! Do try to find a decent version of this DVD by alll means ! You won't regret it !
