Film Review: The Railway Man

The Railway Man. Rated M (mature themes and violence). 116 minutes. Directed by Jonathan Teplitzky. Screenplay by Frank Cottrell Boyce and Andy Paterson. Based on the book by Eric Lomax.

Verdict: A superb account of an incredible true story about learning to forgive.

I discovered Eric Lomax’s autobiographical account of his experience as a prisoner of war in a bookshop many years ago. This unassuming book by one of the few who were able to recount the horror of their experiences in the wilds of tropical Asia after Singapore fell to the Japanese in 1942, has always held a very special place in my heart. If there is a definitive story about the immeasurable value of forgiveness, this is it.

When Eric Lomax (Colin Firth) meets Patti (Nicole Kidman) on a train, it is love at first sight – but almost immediately after their wedding, Eric’s nightmares threaten to destroy their life together. Patti refuses to be defeated by the invisible horrors, and tracks down her husband’s friend and comrade Finlay (Stellan Skarsgård) in an effort to find out what happened to Eric during the war. As Finlay reluctantly shares their story of being forced to construct the notorious Thailand–Burma Railway, we experience it through the eyes of the young Eric (Jeremy Irvine) and one of his Japanese tormentors Takashi Nagase (Tanroh Ishida). Years later, when Eric discovers that Nagase (Hiroyuki Sanada plays the older Nagase) is working as a railway tour guide, he returns to the scene of his torment to right the wrongs that continue to destroy whatever chance of peace he might have.

Boyce and Paterson’s considered adaptation focuses on the essential conflict in Lomax’s courageous account, and Australian-born Teplitzky (Burning Man, Better Than Sex) resists the temptation to glorify the characters – focussing, instead, on the intimate human drama of their shared circumstances. He is rewarded by outstanding performances from his cast, especially Irvine (War Horse), whose beautifully crafted performance as the young Eric informs Firth’s excellent turn as the older Lomax.

Throughout its final sequences of retribution and healing, Firth and Sanada are magnificent, but nothing prepares you for the penultimate scene in the un-used railway cutting, when the film-makers realise the everlasting value of Eric Lomax’s life story to absolute perfection.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: War Horse

War Horse. Rated M (war violence and themes). 146 minutes. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Screenplay by Lee Hall and Richard Curtis. Based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo and the stage adaptation by Nick Stafford.

Steven Spielberg’s grand, career-long study of the qualities of redemption – mostly, as in Schlinder’s List, based on the sins of others – reaches a particular kind of zenith with this magnificent film about a young man’s life-long bond with his horse, Joey. Having witnessed its birth, Albert Narracott (a singularly impressive debut from Jeremy Irvine, pictured) soon finds himself breaking-in the yearling – and the long first act of War Horse is a fastidious telling of the formation of this extraordinary relationship, which culminates in a miraculous feat of farming. On the eve of World War I, Joey is sold to the British cavalry and a distraught Albert promises him that once the war is over, he will come and find him and bring him home.

Based on Mr Morpurgo’s novel and Mr Stafford’s stage adaptation for the National Theatre of Great Britain (now its fourth year of performances), Mr Hall (Billy Elliot) and Mr Curtis’s (Love Actually, Bridget Jones's Diary, Notting Hill) screenplay neatly accounts for the involving episodes from Joey’s life and manages to contain what might have been an unwieldy, rambling odyssey into a mostly captivating and emotional drama.

The work of the team of horse trainers – including Bobby Lovgren and Gold Coast-based Zelie Bullen – ensures that the four-legged stars (a total of fourteen horses were used to play Joey) are the absolute standouts. The astonishing sequence when Joey faces off with a tank before running for his life through the trenches and ending up in No Man’s Land rates as the cinematic sequence of the year – and could probably only ever have been brought to the screen by a master filmmaker and storyteller like Mr Spielberg and his frequent collaborator, cinematographer Janusz Kaminski (Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List).

While it certainly over-cooks its ending, War Horse remains an incredible cinematic achievement – and a richly rewarding film experience you will remember forever.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.