Tale of war stays on the tracks

The Railway Man (M)
Starring: Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman, Stellan Skarsgard
WAR doesn’t make men. It breaks them.
The Railway Man is a beautifully made film that chronicles the human drama of Eric Lomax (Colin Firth), a World War II British lieutenant captured by the Japanese at the fall of Singapore.
The film tells the tale of the dynamic between Lomax and his Japanese torturer. Be warned – some of the torture scenes are hard to watch.
Under the microscope too is the aftermath of war – the nightmares, the sleepless nights, and the mental scars that remain after the physical wounds of war have long healed.
The title of the book comes both from Lomax’s work on the Burma Railway during the war, and his trainspotting obsession back home in England.
There will be a disturbing moment when you find yourself looking at Nicole Kidman, a bit perplexed by what’s going on.
Then, you’ll realise that she’s acting – this has never been seen before. More than that, she’s actually quite good.
Ultimately, Lomax finds that his wartime tormenter has set up a tourist attraction in the very military camp in which he was tortured – a sort of Disneyland for war criminals.
He sets out to kill him, but this train soon runs off the tracks.
Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the film, for this reviewer, was the inescapable real-life fact that Lomax actually ends up befriending his torturer.
It’s the opposite of a clichéd Hollywood ending, and again proves truth to be stranger than fiction.
Would it have been a better film had Lomax killed the swine and burnt the camp? Possibly.
Would it have been deeply satisfying on a primal level? Undoubtedly.
– Jason Beck