The Railway Man – – Official Poster – from IMDB.com

The Railway Man (2014)

Director: Jonathan Teplitzky
Writers: Frank Cottrell Boyce (screenplay), Andy Paterson (screenplay), Eric Lomax (book)
Stars: Nicole Kidman, Stellan Skarsgård, Colin Firth, Jeremy Irvine

The thing about growing up in the 21st Century and being a movie and TV addict, is that you become less affected by violence. Or at least I definitely have. I can’t stand the blood splattering every where like in horror films, but when it comes to torture and war stories it doesn’t faze me that there are people dropping dead everywhere. Which is the problem when you come to a movie like The Railway Man. A film that tells the story of the aftermath of what happened to the men from the British army that ended up taken prisoner by the Japanese near the end of the Second World War. Eric Lomax is a soldier. He lived through the war and came out the other side. But during his service he was tortured by the Japanese for information. This torture has stayed with him his whole life, especially the face of his torturer. The post traumatic stress that he suffered after the war wasn’t uncommon. His experience was one that drove him to want revenge. And once you see what they did to him you try to understand, but can’t. If you’ve seen Zero Dark Thirty or have watched Criminal Minds at all then I don’t think the torture hits as hard as it’s meant to.

The performances by Colin Firth and Jeremy Irvine as old and young Eric Lomax bring power and strength to a part that could be played as the victim. But that is not what Lomax is, he is a hero and a survivor and Firth and Irvine portray him as such. But what really makes this film powerful, apart from its obviously powerful story, is the music. David Hirschfelder has composed pieces that fit perfectly with Jonathan Teplitzky’s slow paced directing and intense close-ups on characters faces. It is this that creates the emotion that this film deserves. The heartbreaking feeling that sinks into the pit of your stomach as you see Lomax suffer and try and stay strong. The absolute sorrow that is conveyed when Lomax confront his torturer years later is crushing.

People kept telling me before I saw the film that it was horrible what they did to Eric Lomax and that you should be prepared for the worst. And so I prepared myself, I thought of all the worst possible things and was prepared. But as someone that watches a lot of crime TV and action films I feel saddened for myself, and probably others like me, that won’t really understand the power and the horrific nature of torture. But in saying that this film is continuing to haunt me and stick to the tendons of thought as I go about my day. Jeremy Irvine should be receiving so much more praise than he has already received for his performance in The Railway Man.

3.5/5