SummaryEric Lomax, a World War II British Army officer who was captured and forced to work on the notorious Death Railway, sets out to find those responsible for his torture.
SummaryEric Lomax, a World War II British Army officer who was captured and forced to work on the notorious Death Railway, sets out to find those responsible for his torture.
For such a torment-filled story, the ending is surprisingly satisfying, with an important message that a lesser filmmaker might have telegraphed too much.
War is hell. The worst part about it is the lies that are told to justify the war itself and the cruelty that comes as a consequence. Railway Man tells a part of the story of World War II that is rarely told through the eyes of a British officer that exemplified the suffering and humiliation endured by the British that were left to surrender to the Japanese at Singapore. It tells the story of two men who find a way to bring closure and find forgiveness and reconciliation. It also tells of a love story of a woman who wouldn't give up until her husband was healed.
What a fantastic film with a twist .. and then based on a real life scenario.
It took a long time for the Japanese to officially say sorry to those who fought the forgotten war in the far east and I cant imagine what they went through or how they survived (those that did).
Well worth a viewing
Colin Firth smolders as the PTSD-riddled veteran (played in flashbacks by War Horse‘s Jeremy Irvine), and Nicole Kidman cries dutifully as his wife — but they’re both derailed by the movie’s tidy emotional resolutions.
Throughout, Firth compellingly plays a man struggling to make sense of the ordeal that his life has become. Too often, though, you can feel the movie struggling right along with him.
I LOVED this film - everything about it was done well, the cinematography, the music, the editing and it had the one thing a movie should have - a great story. The opening scenes where the lead character falls in love was worth the price of admission. The film reminded me of "The Shawshank Redemption" in many ways as it is a film about loss, suffering, revenge and redemption. In my opinion one of the best films I've seen in years and I see a lot of movies. If you prefer modern films that have no hero, where everyone is dysfunctional and tainted by evil, and that really have nothing to say, then you might find this film old fashioned - personally I miss old fashioned where films had meaning, a moral, a message and a hero - and this one has it . Not only that it is a true story of mercy triumphing over judgement. The only downside, if this bothers you, is that it has scenes of torture and violence and an inspiring message which may hit you the wrong way if you love wallowing in your own self-pity - which are the only people I can imagine not liking this film (I know what that's like because I did it for much of my life) See it and be inspired.
Having watched this after "Unbroken" I could clearly appreciate the difference between a good movie about WWII in the Pacific and a terrible one. Colin Firth does a very good job as the troubled man who struggles to recover from the torture and pain of his days as a prisoner (PSD, if I ever saw a case). He is helped in his recovery by his new wife and a fellow veteran. Nothing particularly new, but a story well told. Pity about the uninspiring title.
It begins like a poorly executed romantic movie, too fast and a little messy. Then when we get to the thick of it, the heart of the story and Eric Lomax's history starts to make sense a little bit, but again it's executed poorly. The photography is good, the actors gave a decent performance, so it must be the script or the director.
Since the film is based on a true story, it's a shame that there's such a lack of emotional involvement. It's not as gruesome as it could have been for movie War movie, the torture is kept to a minimum, so they could have pull on the audience's heart strings and play on the emotion card more. I needed to care, to feel for Eric Lomax but I never really did.
As I mentioned the cast gave a decent performance, they were good maybe not great but they were sensitive and raw. Jeremy Irvine is unrecognizable in this film but it feels like he was barely there. Kidman is graceful and reeks of devotion while Firth wears his heart on his sleeve for the audience and Sanada is just sort of impressive.
Although the film did not work for me, I recognized that Eric Lomax's story is inspiring but the movie failed to help me connected with his amazing story. I feel this is a hit or miss situation depending on who you are.
@wornoutspines
It has all the markings of what could have been a very good film, and in the end it was just decent. The last half and especially the ending made up for most of its faults though.
The movie shows an awful part of world war two that I didn't know much about. But the movie is too gooey for my taste. The soldiers are a bit too heroic, and the monologs a bit too pompous.