THE RAILWAY MAN....

[Lite Beer]

THE RAILWAY MAN....

Tells of a moving story ( based on a true story ) of a man ( Eric Lomax ) played superbly by our own Colin Firth, whose love for trains masks the brutalities he suffered by the hands of the Japanese whilst captured during the 2nd World War.

He, and thousands of other prisoners, were forced to build a railway line ( The infamous Death Railway ) in Thailand, linking Bangkok with Burma ( The famous Bridge over the River Kwai ) At the onset of the film he meets a lady passenger on a train, Patti, played rather subdued by Nicole Kidman.

They fall in love and marry but, even with Kidmans nice bum, Lomax cannot stop having nightmares about the past.

There are flash backs where Lomax ( brilliantly played by Jeremy Irvine as the young Lomax ) is tortured for building a radio.

Lomax senior finds out that the Japanese soldier, Nagase ( played brutally by Tanroh Ishida as a young man ) has opened a museum in Thailand and is giving tours.

This is too much for Lomax and he flies to Thailand with the intent of killing Nagase, now played by the recognisable Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada.

When getting there he tortures Nagase but, when he sees how repentent Nagase is and, how Nagase has been having the same nightmares, Lomaxs' anger subsides into remorse.

A very powerful film and the original Lomax and Nagase stayed firm friends up until their deaths in 2011 and 2012.

[cooked]

boring film.

[Patsycat]

I found it quite touching and it made me cry.

[Ulysses G.]

I enjoyed it.

[rhythmworx]

Thanks for spoiling the film.

[Patsycat]

We all know the story so i don't think the film shall be spoiled for you.

I shall watch it again, along with Philomena and 12 years a slave

[Daffy D]

I also found it boring only the fact that it was based on true events kept me watching to the end.

A movie I did find surprisingly watchable was The Butler with Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey (didn't realize she could act) with cameo bits by Vanessa Redgrave and Jane Fonda.

"Cecil Gaines was a sharecropper's son who grew up in the 1920s as a domestic servant for the white family who casually destroyed his. Eventually striking out on his own, Cecil becomes a hotel valet of such efficiency and discreteness in the 1950s that he becomes a butler in the White House itself. There, Cecil would serve numerous US Presidents over the decades as a passive witness of history with the American Civil Rights Movement gaining momentum even as his family has troubles of its own. As his wife, Gloria, struggles with her addictions and his defiant eldest son, Louis, strives for a just world, Cecil must decide whether he should take action in his own way".

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1327773/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Low rating by IMDB but I quite enjoyed it.

[bartender100]

Loved it, not a big fan of Colin Firth, but he played a blinder in this one

[UphillStruggle]

There is website about films based on "true" stories.

The Railway Man:

http://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/railway-man/

[Ulysses G.]

Thanks for that link. Very interesting.

[HeavyDrinker]

The BBC version with John Hurt was far more powerful.

[bartender100]

The BBC version with John Hurt was far more powerful.

I would like to watch it, whats the name please, i did go to IMDB, but Hurt has done rather a lot

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000457/

[mrtoad]

I was pretty disappointed with the film to be honest. I read the book some years back, and that was much better. As a movie, I just didn't feel it worked.

[Patsycat]

It's often that way, if you read the book and are looking forward to the film. It takes me a couple of days to read a book, I don't really expect to spend a couple of days watching the film of the book!!!

Yes, i am a bit daft and come out with odd comments sometimes.....