![]() ![]() As the film is set in fairly dreary locations (prison camps and drab apartments), it's not the most visually exciting thing to watch, and the edit/pacing leaves a bit to be desired - at several points, we find the present-day Eric Lomax (Firth) suddenly transported back to his POW camp in Asia without anything to clue us off as to whether he travelled there (a single plane shot would've done it) or, as in at least one case, is hallucinating. ![]() #The railway man series#The story is unique and interesting, and is told with a series of flashbacks to Eric Lomax, our protagonist's (Firth), experiences of WW2. Shot on attractive locations in Scotland and Australia, The Railway Man may seem a little too respectful and stodgy for some critical tastes but audiences will find the power of the story hard to resist, especially as a warm, stirring musical score by David Hirschfelder leads towards a tear-stained climax.Had the opportunity to see this at its world premiere in Toronto tonight, where we were joined not only by the stars, but also by Patti Lomax, the wife of the real-life Eric Lomax, on whose autobiography this film was based. Nicole Kidman offers warm support as the sketchily drawn Patti and builds some genuine affection into the relationship with Lomax. Eric Lomaxs book, The Railway Man, about his experience as a Japanese prisoner of war has inspired a major new film. The news that Nagase (strongly played by Hiroyukie Sanada) is alive and well and working as a tour guide inspires Lomax to return to Burma and confront him.Ĭolin Firth is well cast in a role that plays to his strengths of emotional reserve crumbling towards catharsis and some of the best scenes in the film are when he comes face to face with Nagase in search of revenge. The film moves between past and present as we learn more of Lomax’s torture at the hands of Japanese interrogator Nagase (Tanroh Ishida) and of Patti’s determination to help him find a way to reconcile himself with what happened. It is one of rising star Irvine’s best performances. His voice matches the rhythms and cadences of Firth’s and he projects sterling qualities of decency, integrity and courage under pressure. The film shifts into flashbacks where Jeremy Irvine does a terrific job of playing the younger Lomax. It is only after the marriage that the former nurse Patti learns how deeply Lomax is trapped and traumatised by the war and unable to share anything of his past. He charms her with his knowledge of timetables and trivia and they are soon married. The film begins on a train in the 1980s where Lomax has a brief encounter with the kindly Patti (Nicole Kidman). His fate was all the more ironic because of his lifelong enthusiasm for railways. Lomax (Colin Firth) was a captive of the Japanese after the fall of Singapore in 1942 and suffered harrowing treatment as slave labour used in the construction of the ” Death Railway” from Thailand to Burma. Lomax died last October at the age of 93 when the film was in post-production. There should be substantial theatrical returns and potential awards consideration for the title in the UK where the Eric Lomax memoir was a bestseller and his story is well known. The film’s greatest appeal will lie with an older demographic drawn to dramas of substance, the very audience who have supported the likes of War Horse or The King’s Speech. The Railway Man may seem a little too respectful and stodgy for some critical tastes but audiences will find the power of the story hard to resist. The story has a relevance to bitter divisions created by all global conflicts but will have the greatest resonance for the generation and their families mostly closely touched by events of seventy years ago. ![]() The true story of a World War Two survivor confronting the horrors of the past is handled with tact and sensitivity by director Jonathan Teplitzky and a star cast. The healing power of truth and reconciliation is touchingly affirmed in The Railway Man, a satisfyingly old-fashioned drama. ![]()
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