I was a little sorry to have
missed Prisoner of War film The Railway Man when it came along a few
months back, and while it was a somewhat odd film to watch as an Englishman en
route to Japan
on a plane full of Japanese people, I was pleased to be able to watch it.
Though at times ponderous and worthy, with a very flabby middle arc, this was a
touching and enjoyable film.
The opening part introduces
Colin Firth’s Lomax character, who is somewhat fixated on trains, knowing all
the routes and being highly enthusiastic about things like gauges and
timetables. He meets a woman on the train, played by Nicole Kidman with a very
good English accent, and there’s a spark between them. He slightly creepily
stalks her, but she likes it and they’re soon married. However, he has mental
walls up, and the second part is devoted to the wife probing her husband’s
friends to find out the truth – that as a POW in Singapore ,
her husband worked on the infamous Death Railway as an engineer. While one of
the lucky ones not put to work as a labourer, he puts together a radio
receiver, which when found results in brutal torture. In later life, he finds
out his old torturer is still alive and goes to Japan
to confront him.
The confrontation is of course
the highlight of the film, though of course mostly this film is about talking,
finding peace and whether or not a man has the capacity to forgive. Honestly, I
think I would have found the book more touching, or even a documentary, with
the most affecting part certainly being pictures of the real people involved in
this story. But the performances were strong and the subject interesting, so
I’m glad I watched.
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