TV Reviews : ‘Survive Siberia’ a Story Coldly Told

“Survive Siberia” follows the long-in-the-tooth documentary tradition of chronicling life in difficult environments. You think you’ve got it tough? Try living like these poor folks do. You think the February flooding in Southern California was bad? Take a peek at the best summer day in Pewek, Siberia, Commonwealth of Independent States.

A mildly interesting installment of ABC’s “World of Discovery” (at 8 tonight on Channels 7, 3, 10 and 42), “Survive Siberia” is hurt by writer-producer Steve Eder’s efforts to inject life-and-death drama into what essentially is a survey of modern Siberia and the efforts of the people to deal with their harsh surroundings.

The sappy narration (breathlessly handled by actress Linda Hunt) and the film breaks baldly timed to hold the viewer through the commercials are heavy-handed and take away from the hourlong show’s nice camera work and historical footage.

The framework for “Survive Siberia” is provided by a rescue mission of the Arctica, a nuclear-powered icebreaker racing to free a fleet of cargo ships trapped in an ice field. “Survive” jumps from footage shot on board the Arctica to Pewekians coping as they wait--literally--for their ships to come in.

The Arctica’s mission allows for convenient film detours that touch on such areas as pollution, entrepreneurial settlers, native peoples, the history of a highway built by Stalin’s exiles and the decades-long attempts to build a year-round passageway through the Arctic Ocean from Europe to Asia.

“Survive Siberia” doesn’t break new ice but it does have a few good moments. The 12-year-old in your house might enjoy it.