As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me
by Hardy Martins
List Price:
Our Price: $10.89
You Save: $9.06 (45%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $7.36 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Andr Hennicke, Hans-Peter Hallwachs, Hans-Uwe Bauer, Michael Mendl, Stephan Wolf-SchoenburgDirector: Hardy Martins
Brand: Vanguard Cinema
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); German (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 122 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-05-22
Audience Rating: Unrated
Model: VF7210
Studio: Vanguard Cinema
Product features:
- Based on a true story and a best selling novel! Based on a true story and a best selling novel, this powerful epic captures the incredible journey of German soldier Clemens Forell in his dramatic escape from a Siberian labor camp after World War II. Through bitter cold winter, desolate landscapes, and life threatening adventures, Forell determined to be reunited with his beloved family makes hi
DVD Reviews of As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me
DVD Review: Compelling adventure drama
Summary: 5 Stars
(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon.)
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 and 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 and 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 and sometimes it isn't. In this case the fact that there actually 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, and he is perfect for the part. To survive such an epic adventure the person has to be strong of body and strong of will. Bettermann looks as though he could actually do something like this, except for the fact that he is so tall and pale I suspect he would stand out and 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 personally chases Forell all the way to the Iranian border (although that resulted in a nice ironic scene on the bridge at the border between Iran and 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 finally 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 small quibbles.
I don't know if this "coloration" (as I will call it) was in the book, but what director Harvey Martins does is make the tall and "Aryan" Forell experience some of the same horrors that the Jews experienced. In the beginning he is in a cattle car and nearly starved to death as he is taken to the Siberian lead mines. He is in rags and nearly frozen and 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, and 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, and that is the kind of persons we all should be.
While Forell is a positive, even a heroic figure, and a nice change for Germans who have to endlessly read about and see Germans portrayed in a most negative way throughout their whole lives, the movie itself tends to be neutral politically.
The scenes of the snow and the forests and the various places that Forell travels through are nicely done. The ending is exquisite and brought me to tears.
Description of As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me
Based on a true story and a best selling novel!Based on a true story and a best selling novel, this powerful epic captures the incredible journey of German soldier Clemens Forell in his dramatic escape from a Siberian labor camp after World War II. Through bitter cold winter, desolate landscapes, and life threatening adventures, Forell ? determined to be reunited with his beloved family ? makes his way, step by step, day by day, towards freedom. 8,000 miles and three endless years of uncertainty later, he is finally about to reach his destination... An edge of your seat drama that celebrates the power of the human spirit and the force of will, when inspired and empowered, by love.
Runtime: 122 mins
Bestsellers in DVD
![The Story of Jeremiah [VHS] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
The Story of Jeremiah [VHS]Vision Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Wresting With God [VHS]by Vision Video
Vision Video; Published: 1990-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Study Bible Video with Workbook [VHS]Spring Arbor Distributors; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Tempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.17
Price in other shops:
Tempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/ Party Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
![Strike the Original Match [VHS] Image](/images/Strike-the-Original-Match-VHS-0001374079-X.jpg)
Strike the Original Match [VHS]New Liberty Films; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS] Image](/images/Medjugorje-The-Miracles-and-the-Message-VHS-0001373293-X.jpg)
Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS]JPN Film Production; Release date: 1995-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008by Mayo
DVD
Price in other shops:
Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single Userby Oakstone
DVD
Price in other shops:
Cost Accounting [VHS]by Charles T. Horngren, George Foster, Srikant M. Datar, Howard Teall
Pearson Canada, Toronto; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
EichmannE1E; Release date: 2011-01-18; DVD
Best price: $11.86
Price in other shops:
Saints and SoldiersAEC One Stop Group, Inc.; Release date: 2005-05-31; DVD
Best price: $10.17
Price in other shops:
Colditz: The Complete 2-Part MiniseriesTimeless Media Group; Release date: 2007-06-05; DVD
Best price: $3.82
Price in other shops:
Europa EuropaHOFSCHNEIDER,MARCO; Release date: 2003-03-04; DVD
Best price: $5.44
Price in other shops:
ArchangelALLUMINATION HOME ENT.; Release date: 2007-01-02; DVD
Best price: $6.98
Price in other shops:
Sophie Scholl - The Final DaysZeitgeist Films; Release date: 2006-11-14; DVD
Best price: $16.21
Price in other shops:
North FaceMUSIC BOX FILMS CORP.; Release date: 2010-05-11; DVD
Best price: $15.95
Price in other shops:
Woman in BerlinREL; Release date: 2009-11-10; DVD
Best price: $14.03
Price in other shops:
As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me: The Extraordinary True Story of One Man's Escape from a Siberian Labor Camp and His 3-Year Trek to Freedomby Josef M. Bauer
Skyhorse Publishing; Published: 2008-05-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.70
Price in other shops:
The Way BackIMG; Release date: 2011-04-22; DVD
Best price: $7.38
Price in other shops: