The trailer for The Railway Man shows promise. It hints at having something more to say than Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence and giving a different context to The Bridge On the River Kwai. With a cast that is headed by Oscar winners Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman, along with Stellan Skarsgård and Jeremy Irving, it looks like it should rouse the emotions, gently move the audience and leave us feeling with a warm glow of horror tempered with forgiveness and joy.
If that's what you're looking for, go no further than the trailer.
1980: Eric Lomax (Firth) is a railway enthusiast (he is at pains to reject the label of 'train spotter'), who meets Patti (Kidman) on a train. In their own stilted ways it is attraction at first sight, albeit reluctantly on Eric's behalf. All seems well with their marriage until Eric's behavior disturbs Patti and he shuts her out emotionally. Desperate to help the man she loves, Patti approaches Finlay (Skarsgård), Eric's friend and fellow POW, for information and help. He grudgingly tells her about the abuse they suffered at the hands of the Japanese in WWII as they worked on the infamous Thai/Burma railway, and the impact one Japanese translator, Nagase (Hiroyuki Sanada), had on Eric. Circumstances force Eric to face his past, literally and figuratively and he must decide whether to confront Nagase and his own daemons.
The Railway Man is a Sunday afternoon film. It is pleasant enough sandwiched between a large meal and a brisk fifteen-mile walk to burn off those unnecessary calories. But it shouldn't be pleasant. It should be harsh, raw, eye-opening. But instead of a film that tears open a horrific episode in world history, makes us pledge never to let it happen again and then inspires us with a better way of dealing with soul-crushing cruelty, we are lumbered with a scrappy, stuttering montage that is all a bit too nice, a bit too stiff upper lip.
Bouncing back and forth between the Second World War and the 1980s, The Railway Man presents us with the young Eric's (Irving) physical torture while the older Eric plays out his deeply rooted, emotional torture. Or rather, that is the intention.
Director Jonathan Teplitzky manages to pull every single punch. He seems afraid to commit, like a child stuttering but always quitting before the word finally falls out of its mouth. Consequently it is nigh on impossible to feel any meaningful connection with story or characters and I spent almost the entire film detached from it. Only in the final five minutes is there any genuine emotion that allows us a sense of involvement.
Certainly it isn't necessary to see everything in detail. While the astounding 12 Years a Slave refuses to shy away from difficult subjects, Frank Darabont took a different approach with the equally stunning The Shawshank Redemption. Darabont pans his camera away to save us the agony of watching Andy Dufresne's rape but we are left in no doubt whatsoever as to what is happening out of sight. Teplitzky, however, stumbles along so desperate not to offend his audience that The Railway Man becomes a war film with as much impact as a Mills & Boon romance and a love story with as much sentiment as Rambo.
Frequently I found myself saying the next line in my head and discovering with no pleasure that I was often spot on. Various scenes are so obviously established (the older Eric on the bridge over the Kwai) that we know long before the action occurs, exactly what has been scripted. And, like the direction, the performances are frequently stilted as if they, Kidman and Firth particularly, are performing in a play from the wrong end of the 70s, rather than portraying characters who look like they belong there.
The Railway Man is not an awful film at all; it is just a forgettable film about a remarkable story of horror, and the love that enabled redemption and forgiveness.
For more reviews from The Squiss, subscribe to my blog and like the Facebook page.
If that's what you're looking for, go no further than the trailer.
1980: Eric Lomax (Firth) is a railway enthusiast (he is at pains to reject the label of 'train spotter'), who meets Patti (Kidman) on a train. In their own stilted ways it is attraction at first sight, albeit reluctantly on Eric's behalf. All seems well with their marriage until Eric's behavior disturbs Patti and he shuts her out emotionally. Desperate to help the man she loves, Patti approaches Finlay (Skarsgård), Eric's friend and fellow POW, for information and help. He grudgingly tells her about the abuse they suffered at the hands of the Japanese in WWII as they worked on the infamous Thai/Burma railway, and the impact one Japanese translator, Nagase (Hiroyuki Sanada), had on Eric. Circumstances force Eric to face his past, literally and figuratively and he must decide whether to confront Nagase and his own daemons.
The Railway Man is a Sunday afternoon film. It is pleasant enough sandwiched between a large meal and a brisk fifteen-mile walk to burn off those unnecessary calories. But it shouldn't be pleasant. It should be harsh, raw, eye-opening. But instead of a film that tears open a horrific episode in world history, makes us pledge never to let it happen again and then inspires us with a better way of dealing with soul-crushing cruelty, we are lumbered with a scrappy, stuttering montage that is all a bit too nice, a bit too stiff upper lip.
Bouncing back and forth between the Second World War and the 1980s, The Railway Man presents us with the young Eric's (Irving) physical torture while the older Eric plays out his deeply rooted, emotional torture. Or rather, that is the intention.
Director Jonathan Teplitzky manages to pull every single punch. He seems afraid to commit, like a child stuttering but always quitting before the word finally falls out of its mouth. Consequently it is nigh on impossible to feel any meaningful connection with story or characters and I spent almost the entire film detached from it. Only in the final five minutes is there any genuine emotion that allows us a sense of involvement.
Certainly it isn't necessary to see everything in detail. While the astounding 12 Years a Slave refuses to shy away from difficult subjects, Frank Darabont took a different approach with the equally stunning The Shawshank Redemption. Darabont pans his camera away to save us the agony of watching Andy Dufresne's rape but we are left in no doubt whatsoever as to what is happening out of sight. Teplitzky, however, stumbles along so desperate not to offend his audience that The Railway Man becomes a war film with as much impact as a Mills & Boon romance and a love story with as much sentiment as Rambo.
Frequently I found myself saying the next line in my head and discovering with no pleasure that I was often spot on. Various scenes are so obviously established (the older Eric on the bridge over the Kwai) that we know long before the action occurs, exactly what has been scripted. And, like the direction, the performances are frequently stilted as if they, Kidman and Firth particularly, are performing in a play from the wrong end of the 70s, rather than portraying characters who look like they belong there.
The Railway Man is not an awful film at all; it is just a forgettable film about a remarkable story of horror, and the love that enabled redemption and forgiveness.
For more reviews from The Squiss, subscribe to my blog and like the Facebook page.