It seems that I watch more than my fair share of World War II movies. There are a lot of directions you can go with the genre. Each country that participated in World War II has a unique perspective. Although the United States has produced countless films on the subject, it always intrigues me to see the subject covered from the German perspective. The Germans were brutal to the Soviets, who seem to have extracted some payback at the end of the war.
As Far As My Feet Will Carry Me is based on the true story of a German soldier, Clemens Forell (Bernhard Bettermann) who is convicted by Russians of unspecified crimes and shipped off to a labor camp in Siberia. The film opens with the arduous train ride across the impossible Siberian countryside and into the Arctic Circle. Even on a train, soldiers died from the extreme temperatures. The trains unload and the soldiers end up having to trek across more tundra to their final destination...a prison camp without fences. Where would you go if you did manage to escape?
Forell made a promise to his little girl that he would see her by Christmas, before going off to war. The love he experiences for his family seems to drive his aspirations to flee. He must realize that he will die in the prison camp, either from disease, labor or old age. Forell manages to make his escape with the aid of another prisoner, who is also a physician. He is provided with hasty advice before setting off into the expansive white.
Forell's story covers many tribulations which begin with hallucinations and his own battle to survive the elements. His journey takes years, as he tries to wind his way to the border crossing to Iran. At every step of his journey, Forell is met with challenges. He does not know who he can and cannot trust, so he remains guarded whenever he interacts with the local populations. The challenges must certainly have been great, but it felt like As Far As My Feet Will Carry Me sensationalized the story to the point of losing credibility.
There were certain aspects of the story which Forell could not have possibly known about. It seems that at least two people who could have been tortured to provide information conveniently died in a manner that Forell could not have known about. I could accept the first, but the second was a stretch. This story would succeed on its own, without the hype. The dialogue was okay, but a bit simplistic. Based on ratings I have seen for the book upon which this movie was based, the three writers involved in the screenplay (Bastian Cleve, Hardy Martins and Bernd Schwamm) did not do the original story justice. Some of the interactions seemed strained and manipulative.
Bettermann did an excellent job with the material he had to work with. I was convinced by his performance, which required Bettermann to experience a variety of hardships which he seemed to react to appropriately. When he was supposed to seem cold, you could feel the cold coming off of him. Forell is relentlessly pursued by a Russian Lieutenant (Anetoly Kotenyov) who tracks Forell from his initial disappearance. I was less convinced by Kotenyov, but did not find his performance distracting. Many of the cast members had brief roles, as the film centered on Forell's journey. Bettermann demonstrated that he could carry this film, but the script was not as good as it could have been.
I had some issues with the cinematography in this film as well. Although the cold was captured well, there were minor nagging issues that got under my skin. Issues like dead bodies changing positions from scene to scene or equipment changes nagged at me. It seemed like Forell had a much larger wardrobe than what he could possibly have been carrying, even if you were to allow that his jacket may have been reversible. The amount of equipment he is carrying does not always appear to be consistent. There were other minor glitches that further eroded my enjoyment of this film.
Having complained about the script and cinematography in As Far As My Feet Will Carry Me, I am still going to mildly recommend this film. The underlying story is captivating. The fact that it is based on the true story of survival in elements that seem impossible were enough to capture my attention. The screenplay could have been handled more efficiently, but Bettermann does a great job with what he has to work with. I would mildly recommend this film...a decent rainy day movie. 6.5/10.
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