Review of The Railway Man

Saw this film at its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Teplitzky's film is primarily an attempt at an exploration of the male psyche of men of the WWII generation, as they cope with PTSD, told through a true life story about torture, war crimes, loss, honour, and forgiveness. The protagonist, brilliantly portrayed by Colin Firth, is set apart as an unusual archetype right from the beginning of the movie, practically specifying that he is almost certain to cope with his condition and the circumstances that unroll as the plot thickens in an exceptional, but not necessarily an unexpected way. A story with any different ending is unlikely to be told this way, but the ending brings a pleasant surprise of greater magnitude than one would expect from a true story. The concepts of honour and valour lurk throughout the film, and the movie reaches its climax beautifully when the irony about honour is finally exposed in what was nothing short of a heartfelt and memorable admission of wrongdoing. This story is likely to resonate well with anyone, from any generation and cultural background.