Aylmer to Zazzoo and Beyond: Railway Man

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Railway Man - Review

The Railway Man

(2013 - December 26 [Australia] 2014 - April 11 [USA Limited release])
Biography | Drama | War | World War II
1 hr. 47 min.

Rated: R | For intense prisoner of war violence. No sex and nudity, no profanity to speak of
Grade: B+

Director: Jonathan Teplitzky
Writers: Frank Cottrell Boyce (screenplay), Andy Paterson (screenplay), Eric Lomax (book)
Stars: Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman, Stellan Skarsgård | See full cast and crew

Based on the true story of a former British Army officer who was tormented as a prisoner of war at a Japanese labor camp during World War II. Years later at home in England he discovers that the man responsible for much of his treatment is still alive and sets out to confront him.

I saw this film Memorial Day weekend and what an appropriate time it was. We need to remember the lives and sacrifices of men and women who fought against evil. Some may find The Railway Man a bit slow but I found it worth the wait. It is one of the better films I've see of late, both moving and inspiring. I really appreciate films based on actual events and this film is the visualization of the acclaimed autobiographical novel by Eric Lomax. Colin Firth (King's Speech) as Eric Lomax is excellent as is Jeremy Irvine (War Horse) as Eric's younger incarnation. The rest of the cast is very good as well. Stellan Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman and Hiroyuki Sanada as Takeshi Nagase, the interpreter that played a big part in Eric's torture for building a radio.

This is a great story, not told as well as it should have been, a flaw in the screenplay and the direction. Considering the strength of the story, the film is a bit disappointing but still very much worth seeing. I'd have given the film an A- had the direction and script been a little stronger.

The story centers around Eric Lomax during his time in WWII. Eric was working as a radio technician for the British army in Singapore when the Japanese attacked and conquered the area. More than 80,000 British soldiers (including Indian and Australian troops) surrendered and were taken as POWs, making it the largest surrender of British-led military personnel in history. Eric's group of soldiers was transported to Thailand and forced to build the Burma Railway, a grueling task that took the lives of many men (some 12,399 POWs) leading it to be nicknamed the Death Railway. It was one of the worst episodes of the war in Asia for the allied forces.

Two POWs from the Burma Railway after their liberation

I would have liked to delved a little deeper into the characters of the film. Nicole Kidman as Patti Lomax is really not on screen that much and it would have been nice to see more of the intimate workings of their relationship.

The horrors of the POW camp are also portrayed a bit too lightly, in my opinion, but then this is not an historical documentary but a story of broken lives tormented by holding on to dark secrets, and the attempts to let love and forgiveness heal and redeem oneself.

In my opinion, The Railway Man deserves kudos for presenting such a harrowing subject without the usual abundance of foul language, the type of language that Hollywood would have insisted upon.

One could actually justify some language given the situations and circumstances. Particularly when dealing with lives of soldiers and the stressful environment of, not only war in general, but of being captured and held as prisoners of by a ruthless enemy.

This is an Australian film that bucks the Hollywood cookie cutter norms. In a Hollywood version of the film it likely would have had a nude sex scene after Eric and Patti meet serendipitously on a train, a perponderence of profanity and gratuitous gore in the torture scenes. Well I say, 'Hurray for non-Hollywood!'

The Railway Man is a film that you can got to with your parents or children (if you think they can handle the prisoner of war violence). It has a moral. It has heart. It has positive role models.

I don't want to say too much about the plot so as not to spoil it for you, but it is a powerful message about the power of love, reconciliation, redemption and humanity, and the big reveal as the credits roll is inspiring.

Pictured here are the real Eric Lomax and Takeshi Nagase in their later lives.

Eric Lomax passed away in 2012, he was able to see some scenes being filmed but he never saw the finished product. Patti said, I knew he would have been really happy with the final product.