The Railway Man - Die Liebe seines Lebens (2013)

A former British Army officer, who was tormented as a prisoner of war at a Japanese labor camp during World War II, discovers that the man responsible for much of his treatment is still alive and sets out to confront him.

Director:

Jonathan Teplitzky

Writers:

Frank Cottrell Boyce (screenplay), Andy Paterson (screenplay)

Stars:

Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman, Stellan Skarsgård

7 wins & 19 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeremy Irvine	...	Young Eric
Colin Firth	...	Eric
Stellan Skarsgård	...	Finlay
Michael MacKenzie	...	Sutton
Nicole Kidman	...	Patti
Jeffrey Daunton	...	Burton
Tanroh Ishida	...	Young Takeshi Nagase
Tom Stokes	...	Withins
Bryan Probets	...	Major York
Tom Hobbs	...	Thorlby
Sam Reid	...	Young Finlay
Akos Armont	...	Jackson
Takato Kitamoto	...	Japanese Officer
Keith Fleming	...	Removal Man
Ben Aldridge	...	Baliff

Storyline

Eric Lomax was one of thousands of Allied prisoners of war forced to work on the construction of the Thai/Burma railway during WW2. His experiences, after the secret radio he built to bring news and hope to his colleagues was discovered, left him traumatised and shut off from the world. Years later, he met Patti, a beautiful woman, on a train and fell in love. Patti was determined to rid Eric of his demons. Discovering that the young Japanese officer who haunted her husband was still alive, she faced a terrible decision. Should Eric be given a chance to confront his tormentor? Would she stand by him, whatever he did?

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Plot Keywords:

physical torture | reference to adolf hitler | japanese soldier | pow camp | prisoner of war | 

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Taglines:

Revenge is never a straight line.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Romance | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for disturbing prisoner of war violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site [United Kingdom]

Country:

Australia UK Switzerland

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

23 May 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

Die Liebe seines Lebens

Filming Locations:

Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$61,845 (USA) (11 April 2014)

Gross:

$4,435,083 (USA) (11 July 2014)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Archer Street Productions, Latitude Media, Lionsgate

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Rachel Weisz was originally cast as Patti Lomax, but was forced to drop out due to scheduling conflicts, with re-shoots planned for The Bourne Legacy (2012) and Oz the Great and Powerful (2013). Nicole Kidman replaced her after being asked to take the part by Colin Firth himself.

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Goofs

Many of the train liveries shown in the UK were either long out of use by 1980 or in the case of the maroon West Coast Railway livery did not exist yet.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Eric: At the beginning of time, the clock struck one. A drop of dew, and the clock struck two. From the dew grew a tree, and the clock struck three. Then the tree made a door, and the clock struck four. Then man came alive, And the clock struck five. Count not, waste not, the hours of the clock. Behold I stand at the door and knock.

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Connections

Featured in Projector: The Railway Man (2014)

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Soundtracks

Introduction (Prelude) from Gadfly Suite
Performed by Ukraine National Symphony Orchestra, Theodore Kuchar (Conductor)
Composed by Dmitri Shostakovich (as D. Shostakovich)
Published by Native Tongue Publishing
Licensed Courtesy of Select Audio Visual Distribution on behalf of Naxos

User Reviews

What would you do if you came face to face with your enemy?

Words cannot do this film justice. There are no words to describe how amazing the true story of Eric Lomax really was, and I do not want to give away the entire story here. But suffice to say that I was fully engrossed in the film throughout its entirety. From the moment we see Eric and Patty meet to the emotional ending,I could not bring myself to look away or even to reach down for my drink in the cinema. Be prepared for some harrowing and intense scenes. But bear in mind that these are required for us to understand completely the dilemma faced by Eric at the end of his story. The actors portray their characters beautifully, with so much angst and emotion that I found myself empathising with them all the way through. If you are interested whatsoever in stories of war, survival, trauma, revenge, forgiveness and the ethical dilemmas wrapped up in them all, then this is a film you should definitely see. Tears rolled down my face as the credits rolled, and I found myself thinking about the movie long after watching it. Highly recommended.