A Rewarding Ordeal
The
Railway Man will trigger deep emotion in anyone who sees it. Young people
will wonder if it could possibly be true, and the answer is yes. Older people
who heard as children about the Japanese building of “The Death Railway” from
Thailand to Burma will be chilled because of its truth. It is a tribute to
director Jonathan Teplitzky and to a fine cast that they have given us so few
reasons to be skeptical. Instead, we are riveted.
You can well
wonder why anyone would want to watch two hours of grisly torture from a distant
war, and the answer is that it has the force of history because the principal
characters are actual. This is the true story of Eric Lomax (Colin Firth /Jeremy
Irvine), a lover of railways who joined England’s Royal Corps of Signals when he
was twenty years old. He was captured after the fall of Singapore in 1942,
tortured brutally, and forced to work in horrific conditions with hundreds of
other Allied prisoners building that railroad.
Eric used his
communications skills to build a radio that brought news of the war from the BBC
to his fellow prisoners. When the radio was discovered, he endured more torture
that left him near death – hips and arms broken - for two days in the blistering
sun. He spent the rest of the war in a disease infested cell.
Years later,
after a long first marriage, he met Patti (Nicole Kidman), a Canadian nurse, on
a train. When Patti discovered the depth of her new husband’s emotional and
physical damage, she did everything she could to help him become open to help in
the hope of defusing it. Eventually Eric Lomax returned to the Far East to
confront the man who damaged him so badly.
You ask, “Is
it a good movie?” The answer, as best I can manage, is that it is an ordeal that
you will believe. Nicole Kidman is appropriately restrained in a role that asks
that she be serious and supportive of her husband. Colin Firth’s recognized
intelligence and talent infuse Eric with great credibility. He makes Eric’s road
to recovery a fascinating question mark.
The real
stunner here is Jeremy Irvine who plays Eric as the young soldier he was in
1942. Looking extraordinarily like a younger Colin Firth, he ensures smooth
transitions between past and present. Along with Kidman and Firth, Irvine uses
notable restraint in an extremely difficult role. The three of them deliver
extended torment in a remarkable act of old fashioned storytelling.
The film is
sufficiently disturbing that it sent me straight to a Google search of Eric and
Patti Lomax where the material confirmed the bones of the story with the
exception of one twist of dramatic license. Eric Lomax, who died before the film
was released, came to the set with his wife and pronounced the film accurate. It
is worth the discomfort you will feel.
Film Critic : Joan Ellis
Film title : The Railway Man
Distributor : The Weinstein Company
Word Count : 497
Running Time : 1:56
Rating : R
Copyright (c) Illusion