Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman and Stellan Skarsgard headline The Railway Man, and that’s enough to get me interested in seeing the film. But with the first trailer hitting today, I am even more convinced that this is one that I’m likely to give a chance.
Firth stars as Eric Lomax, a soldier captured in Singapore and interned at a Japanese POW camp, where the inmates were forced to build the Thai-Burma Railway. Resisting, Lomax was obviously tortured and humiliated by the head of the camp. Many years later, he still bears the psychological and emotional scars that wake him up in the middle of the night, and horrify his wife (Nicole Kidman). She’s determined to get to the bottom of what happened at the camp. Skarsgard comes in as a fellow survivor, alongside Hiroyuki Sanada as one of the torturers whom Firth travels across the world to find. It’s a tale of vengeance and redemption; you know: Oscar-bait.
The trailer makes the film look big and sweeping and powerful, which is what we must expect from Oscar season. While there has been some debate as to how successful the film is in representing a difficult and fascinating subject, it’s still an intriguing story. Firth has a way of conveying deep emotion with very little effort, and Skarsgard is always interesting to watch. With this cast I will give it the benefit of the doubt.
The Railway Man premiered at Toronto International Film Festival, and is slated to debut in Australia in December. No US release date has been forthcoming, but given the cast and the scope of the story, it’s unlikely that it won’t hit US theatres.
You can watch the trailer below and let us know what you think of The Railway Man in the comments.