Irina (Saiorse Ronan) attempts to cross a frozen lake in "The Way Back."

Australian director Peter Weir has been in cinematic hibernation since his 2003 effort Master and Commander: The Far Side of The World. A highly revered filmmaker (Witness, Dead Poets Society, Fearless), Weir takes a significant time off between film projects (before Master, he directed the 1998 film The Truman Show).  The good news is that his latest work, The Way Back (PG-13, 133 minutes), opens January 21st, 2011 (it comes out in Los Angeles December 29th for Oscar consideration).  Starring Ed Harris, Colin Farrell, Saoirse Ronan, and Jim Sturgess, the story centers on a group of prisoners who escape a Siberian gulag in 1940 and travel thousands of miles through hostile terrain.  Weir loves pitting his characters against larger than life elements (well, except for Green Card!!), and The Way Back seems to fit into his thematic obsessions.  Here’s the trailer to The Way Back, which is inspired by Slavomir Rawicz’s novel, The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom.

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posted by Greg Srisavasdi