The Way Back

1940. The prisoners, mostly political, at a Soviet labor camp in Siberia are told by their Communist jailers that there is no use in trying to escape as even if the guards don't kill them in any escape attempt, they will perish in the harsh and isolated environment. That threat does not stop the talk, especially by a long term Russian prisoner named Khabarov, of planning an escape when ready, he encouraging others, most specifically Janusz, a Polish soldier whose wife, upon being tortured by the Communist authorities, was forced to accuse him of being a spy, to hoard food and other needed supplies for such an escape. But it is another more pragmatic prisoner, a loner American engineer only calling himself Mr. Smith, realizing that they will die there nonetheless in their forced labor at a mine in the middle of winter, he convincing them that it is a perfect time for an impromptu escape, which a small group of them, including Janusz, do during a blinding snowstorm which should cover their tracks. The disparate group of escapees also includes one who the others would probably prefer not to be among them, a career Russian criminal named Valka, who they saw at the camp knife a fellow prisoner solely for his sweater. Figuring that they are several hundred kilometers north of Lake Baikal, they plan on finding the lake, which would give them their bearings, to cross the border to freedom in Mongolia. Beyond the known hazards, they find a further obstacle in the changing geopolitical situation making their plan of Mongolia as the final destination unfeasible. Realizing that there is strength in numbers in their trek, the other question becomes whether they will purposefully leave anyone behind if their declining physical ability becomes a liability in moving forward.