Blair Loveday
There is no shortage of movies revolving around WWII or the effects it has taken on people afterwards.
Yet in 2013 The Railway Man dropped telling a deeply personal and harrowing story, that is as strong now as it was 11 years ago.
The Railway Man is based on the autobiography of a man who did WWII pretty damn tough. It kicks off with him as an adult 30 years later riding a train where he meets his wife. It turns out he is a bit of a railway enthusiast and they fall in love. We then get to see some of the PTSD that affects him from his time of the war.
The movie then flashes back and forth between him trying to deal with his demons and the strain it puts on his wife, flashing back to his time in the war. Specifically after the fall of Singapore where the Japanese managed to capture a bunch of Allied POW’s. A bunch of them, including Lomax, were sent to Thailand to work on the construction of the Burma railway against their will. They were treated brutally as slaves and forced to work incredibly hard to do this.
Lomax and some of his colleagues manage to sneakily build a radio receiver under one of the trucks so they can get news about the war. Hearing positive steps the Allies have made gives them hope. Unfortunately he radio gets found and some ruthless torture happens. This is why Lomax is having such a rough time. The story of his torture really focuses on what appears to be an angry, yet conflicted translate who is there for all of it. In the later day, Lomax travels to confront some of his feelings around what happened to him.
There are some parts that can drag a bit, but Colin Firth who plays Lomax does an exceptional job in his role. Jeremy Irvine plays him in the war times, and also does an incredible job of the story. There are a few little moments that really caught me off guard, but for the most part it’s the emotional stuff that they nailed and really made me have some tough but real feels.
The Bluray itself has a good behind the scenes stuff, but for this release a great documentary about the context of this horror could have really sealed the deal on the package. Fortunately the movie is good enough that you should be adding this to your collection for that alone.
The Railway Man is a brutal drama that tells an incredible story of a man going through some truly brutal stuff, the later day stuff can drag, but it is well worth it for the ending that really challenges your ideas of forgiveness. It seems like Lomax was an incredible man, and this movie really helps portray it.
