The Narrow Road to the Deep North isn’t without merit since it features good performances, a harrowing look at life as a prisoner of war, and a cinematic (if visually dark) presentation. That said, it’s not particularly enjoyable or entertaining since it’s so damn heavy, playing like a five-hour version of a pretentious Oscar-bait movie at Cannes (in fact, there are similarities to Oh, Canada, an actual pretentious Oscar-bait movie from Cannes). The pacing and story structure — it bounces between pre-war, during the war, and decades post-war — don’t help because narrative momentum is hard to come by. Snobbish critic types will probably adore it, though.