You can view the film’s official website here, Facebook page here, and the trailer below.

In other news, the Legend of the Guardians official soundtrack is now available for pre-order on iTunes here and through our JSOnline store on Amazon.com here.  For now, the film’s theme song To the Sky by Owl City, is EXCLUSIVELY available for immediate download only on iTunes.

Beyond its visual splendors, however, the film achieves searing moral power. The most profound question it raises is whether a good man can play a meaningful role during a time of widespread evil. In the prison camp, [Ed] Harris recognizes that Janusz [Jim Sturgess] might be an asset during their journey because he senses that Janusz’s “kindness” could aid their survival.  Janusz is determined to make it home not because he wants to save his own skin, but because he wants to forgive his wife for the betrayal that he knows was forced on her. Janusz’s nobility is not oversold, but it helps to sustain all of the prisoners during their savage journey, and it provides an anchor for the audience as well.

The film’s stirring concept depends on the performance of Sturgess, who really has the starring role and subtly conveys the soul of a decent man.  Harris also gives a superb performance as a bitter man who reclaims his own humanity during the long march.  [Colin] Farrell bravely highlights the loutish ignorance of a hardened thug whose stubborn loyalty to Comrade Stalin is one of his most surprising traits.

And Inside Film has a nice video clip taken during Leonard Maltin’s Q & A with director Peter Weir following his silver medallion tribute during the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado this weekend.  In the footage below, Weir tells an opening night crowd about his favorite invention in cinema: the close-up.

(Click on the image below to go to the video clip.)

The Way Back rockets forward with the urgency and authenticity of real life. It begins in Soviet-occupied Poland, as a military officer named Janusz (the film’s stand-in for Rawicz, played by the young English actor Jim Sturgess) is interrogated and then sent to Siberia after his wife is tortured into incriminating him. One of the year’s most powerful scenes, this stunner of an opening telegraphs the film’s merciless, unflinching approach. There’s no physical violence on the screen, but Weir punches us in the gut simply by training his camera on Janusz’s face as his eyes fill with fear, which turns to horror and then anger.

Hollywood Elsewhere reader, Terry Woods has this review of the film:

“A hugely harrowing experience. The first half is better than the second half, which covers more of the journey the escaped prisoners make, but the film is never less than totally absorbing. I’ll go so far as to say the first half is the best work that Weir has ever done in my opinion, and the second half is still better than most Hollywood product churned out today.  Jim Sturgess is excellent here.  I haven’t been a huge fan before but there’s a scene near the beginning where Sturgess doesn’t utter a word but says everything with his eyes — it took my breath away.  And the cinematography is award-worthy.

And from The New York Times comes this blog entry in Arts Beat about The Way Back:

Mr. Weir’s style is stately, almost classical, and the astonishing story he has to tell in the new movie — about a group of men who escaped from a Soviet Labor camp in 1941 and walked from Siberia to India — has an old-fashioned gravity and grandeur. There are fine performances from Ed Harris, Sioarse Ronan and Jim Sturgess as Januzs, the Polish prisoner who leads the trek toward freedom, and breathtaking images of tundra, desert forest and grassland.

In Contention weighs in with 4 Stars for The Way Back describing the film as “a profoundly moving work of art from a modern master.” Here’s an excerpt from the review:

As such, a film like “The Way Back” waited forever for a company to bite, and now that I’ve seen it, I’m convinced it’s an embarrassment and a blight on many records that the film and Weir have been left out in the cold, because this is quietly profound, epic, bold filmmaking at its very best.

The film is unconventional in its depiction of a long march by Siberian Gulag escapees out of Communist Russia. But rather than becoming repetitive or aimless, the film’s series of vignettes depicting the mundane particulars of survival (be it physical or psychological) is incredibly moving and consistently engaging.

Sturgess is a wonderful anchor for the viewer throughout, but it’s probably the performances from Ed Harris and, especially, Colin Farrell that stand out the most. Nevertheless, this is a true ensemble piece very much concerned with the necessity of togetherness to pull through the worst and Weir, along with a below-the-line crew worthy of love letters, pulls it off without a hitch.

Special thanks to forum members, Momoko and Izzy for sharing these reviews.

Additionally, the 37th Annual Telluride Program Guide is now available online here.  The Way Back will be premiering at the festival tonight, Sept 3 at 9:30pm, and  showing again on Sept 4 at 2:45 pm and Sept 5 at 8:30pm (all times MST).   The copy in the program guide reads:

Adapted from Slavomir Rawicz’s novel, the story follows six prisoners who undertake the suicidal, desperate project of escape, including an arduous treck through the mountains and deserts of Mongolia and the Himalayas.  Ed Harris plays a misanthropic American expat, Colin Farrell a wily Russian thug, and Saoirse Ronan a mysterious girl encountered on the journey.  The revelation, however, is young British actor Jim Sturgess as Janusz, an idealistic Pole and unexpected leader.

(Click on image to enlarge for reading.)

TFF is proud to honor the following three recipients with its Silver Medallion awards, given to recognize an artist’s significant contribution to the world of cinema:

PETER WEIR – Filmmaker Peter Weir (WITNESS, THE TRUMAN SHOW, MASTER AND COMMANDER) will be presented with the Silver Medallion followed by an onstage interview with Leonard Maltin (Friday) and Scott Foundas (Saturday). A screening of Weir’s lost classic THE PLUMBER (Australia, 1976) and his latest film, THE WAY BACK, will screen during the Festival.

Other honorees include Italian actress Claudia Cardinale and British actor Colin Firth.  Congratulations to Mr. Weir on this tremendous honor!!! You can read more about the Telluride Festival on their official website here.  Special thanks to our forum member Izzy for alerting us to this news.

And in other breaking news today, Newmarket Films was announced as the U.S. distributor for The Way Back, which stars Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, and Colin Farrell.   Movie City News (MCN) reported the announcement made jointly by Nigel Sinclair, CEO and Co-Chairman of Exclusive Media Group (“Exclusive”) , and Chris Ball, Co-Chairman of Exclusive and President and Co-Founder of Newmarket Films (“Newmarket”):

The Way Back is inspired by Slavomir Rawicz’s acclaimed novel The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom, as well as by other real life accounts.  The film chronicles the escape of a small group of multi-national prisoners from a Siberian gulag in 1940 and their epic journey over thousands of miles across five hostile countries.

Notes Nigel Sinclair, “We brought Newmarket into the Exclusive Media Group fold to give our company access to a well respected and established distribution entity.  Chris and I, and our partners at National Geographic are extremely proud to be able to bring Peter Weir’s story to US audiences.”

Chris Ball added, “The Way Back is one of the great real-life escape stories of our time.  Slavomir Rawicz’ book, which the film is inspired by, has been translated into 25 languages and really captures the triumph of the human spirit.  It’s a story of man’s struggle to survive at any cost, and the strength to push on when all hope seems lost. Newmarket has a history of working with exciting directors like Christopher Nolan and Niki Caro and we are very pleased to now be working with Peter Weir.”

The film will have a wide release in January 2011, with limited release in December 2010 in time for Oscar consideration.

We’ve added even more new images to our collection of behind-the-scenes pictures of Jim and Anne filming One Day.  We hope you enjoy this preview of a tender moment between Dexter and Emma in Paris:

You can view all the new behind-the-scenes images here.

Lainey Gossip has been following the progress of the filming closely and is a huge fan of the novel, as well as Jim Sturgess.  Below are a few excerpts from her column:

Have you read One Day yet?  Please do soon.  Because I always forget to alert for spoilers and it’s so hard especially when set shots are being released and besides, what’s the delay anyway? It’s one of the best books of the summer (my review is here), if not the best book of the summer and it will break your heart and make you happy, so why are you putting it off?  One Day is a story for which you’ll have so much affection and tenderness for a long, long time. If you know about Emma and Dexter, you’ve no doubt this is true.

And here they are, the film versions in Paris today, shooting that scene when she meets him at the station and, well, it all happens after and it really is as it’s written, at least to me anyway, the way he’s touching her hair, and loving it short (a wig by the way, and another good one), and older, damaged, weary, but ready.   Finally ready.  Sob!

(She continues…) Dex, as you can see, is most definitely Jim Sturgess, right down to the way his head is titled to the side as he’s walking towards her and her adorable sign.  It’s awful and wonderful at the same time isn’t it?  The way a book stays with you and comes back in aches in your stomach.

Dear Lainey, we couldn’t agree with you more!!!

(Click on images to enlarge)

We’ve added additional on-set images to our gallery (see examples below).

You can see all the latest images from One Day in our gallery here.

Even more mysterious is Michael’s Telluride Film Blog where the author speculates The Way Back, noticeably absent from the this year’s film festival circuit, will make a surprise showing at the Colorado festival next weekend.  Telluride has long been famous for last minute, high profile additions which thrill festival goers and critics alike.  Here’s what’s being said:

An Australian film company [Palace Films] tweets cryptically this morning that a “major” Australian director will unveil a new film next week at the Festival.  Deductively we’re going to guess that it’s Peter Weir’s “The Way Back” featuring Colin Farrell and Ed Harris.  Weir has a relatively short resume…but it’s long on quality…”The Truman Show,” “Master and Commander,” and “Dead Poet’s Society” among others.  The prospect of “The Way Back” playing TFF #37 would make what we already think is likely to be a great festival even better. Hope he and the film are there.

Congratulations to the entire Heartless team on receiving this prestigious award!!!

Special thanks to forum member, Izzy, for sending in this news.