The Railway Man

Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman and Stellan Skarsgard star in The Railway Man on DVD, a war drama adapted from Eric Lomax's memoirs about his experiences in a POW camp. While serving in the Second World War, British Army officer Eric Lomax (Jeremy Irvine) is captured and held prisoner by the Japanese. He is brutally tortured and forced, along with his fellow captives, to build the Thai-Burma Railway. Many years later an older Lomax (Firth) is still traumatised by the experience. Supported by his wife Patti (Kidman) and friend Finlay (Skarsgard), he decides to track down one of his torturers, Takashi Nagase (Hiroyuki Sanada), hoping to find the answers that will enable him to finally let go of the hatred he has held for so long. The Railway Man Movie Reviews “Wrenching, profound and beautifully made, The Railway Man is one of the stunning don’t-miss surprises of the still-young 2014.” New York Observer “An impressively crafted, skillfully acted, highly absorbing journey into a dark corner of world history.” Los Angeles Times “The result is an old-fashioned war film with echoes of The Bridge on the River Kwai, melded with a stirring story of truth, reconciliation and healing. Only a hardhearted cynic would be unmoved.” Film Journal International “As moving as The King's Speech (not least due to Colin Firth's emotionally minimalist but powerful stiff upper lip characterisation) and as beautifully made, Jonathan Teplitzky's film of Eric Lomax's memoir – as written for the screen by Frank Cottrell Boyce and Andy Paterson – is stunning cinema. Here is another perfect example of subject matter that is not Australian, but made by Australians, proving yet again that it's the storyteller not the story that marks its national identity – and that's only of interest for funding and festival branding reasons. We the audience, are only interested in the actual cinematic experience, and Teplitzky shows he knows how to speak cinema, and has matured as a filmmaker – not that he was ever immature – using nuance and understatement as a primary force. This may seem an odd thing to say, given the brutal beatings and savage encounters in the prison camp, but they are conveyed in the service of the story, with great control – and are not the whole film. Inevitably, the central motivation of traditional Japanese soldier culture gets an airing: surrender is dishonourable, better to die. Lomax represents – and articulates – the Western view: living is the more honourable thing. Surrounded by a brilliant team and working with a talented cast fully committed to this compelling story (reminiscent in some ways of the excellent Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, 1983), Teplitzky gives us everything that cinema can deliver in telling it: lights, camera, action – and music, indeed. David Hirschfelder's su­perb score is emotive, haunting and perfectly fitting, while Martin Connor's edit is remarkable for its strong storytelling in a non-linear fashion. We are always emotionally involved, but never feel manipulated. And Teplitzky's at­tention to detail is admirable. There isn't a performance less than 100% real, not even in the extras who slave on the railway or sit in the veterans' club in England. As for the leads, it's a high wattage ensemble in which Firth and Kidman both disappear in their characters, as does Jeremy Irvine as the young Lomax and Stellan Skarsgaard as a fellow POW. There is no doubt, though, that it is Hiroyuki Sanada's brief but shattering performance as the older, post war Japanese soldier, Nagase, that we'll treasure as the moment of redemption, release and humanity that is the film's climax. No spoilers, but this sequence of scenes is the film's beating heart, its most demanding and challenging moment. We feel every conflicted emotion as Lomax confronts his demons head on, never quite sure how he will deal with it.It's amazing how after so many movies about wars, and about this war in particular, there is still something to say about the human condition through one man's experience.” Urban Cinefile, Aus “Shows off real filmmaking and storytelling skill on the part of Teplitzky and a different view of WWII than we've seen before.” Comingsoon.net