Films of the war-drama genre often share similar traits – scenes from the trenches, a love interest back home, perhaps the violent will of a commanding general and often a stereotypical enemy. Where The Railway Man has scored greatly is that it has either excluded these traits altogether or flipped them on their heads and yet still achieved an incredible, edge-of-your-seat film. This is a fantastic film starring Colin Firth and Jeremy Irvine as the older and younger Eric Lomax and Nicole Kidman as his wife, Patricia Wallace.
Based on a true story, The Railway Man is the story of Eric Lomax during the Second World War. Taken as a war prisoner by the Japanese, he is sent to work on the railway in Singapore, where he is forced to work on the Thai-Burma rail. Many soldiers died in the building of this railway due to the severe working conditions. However Eric resists the Japanese soldiers and is tortured for it – leaving with him lifelong scars, more psychological and physical.
The majority of the film is set many years later. Eric has since long returned from the war and aged, alone, in Northern England. By chance he meets Patricia and they fall in love. However Patricia soon comes to see the ghosts of torture that still haunt Eric’s life. She begins talking to Finlay (Stellan Skarsgård), a fellow survivor of the Japanese war prison and learns some of the details that happened.
The crux of the film really occurs when Finlay tells Eric that he knows the whereabouts of Nagase (Hiroyuki Sanada – The Last Samurai, The Wolverine), the Japanese officer who was responsible for his torture. With his marriage and own mental well-being on the rocks, Eric sets off to confront Nagase, even though he doesn’t know quite what he will really do when he gets there.
The Railway Man is a really fantastic film – the cast do an incredible job of bringing the grief of war to life. The impact is not so much on what happens during a war, but what happens many years later – how it is possible for men to still love, despite all the hate they have had to experience. Colin Firth is at his very finest as Eric, showing very complex emotions is the nuances of his performance. A special mention goes to Jeremy Irvine who plays the young Eric Lomax and does an equally stellar job.
Overall Verdict: A great film for the winter season, The Railway Man tells the story of war from a fresh angle and will take you into the hearts and minds of characters who were deeply affected by it. The story of love overcoming hate and revenge is a universal one and comes to life brilliantly in the film – highly recommended.
Reviewer: Kevin van der Ham