GetPapa Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

AutCuddly Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Bessie Smyth Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Reinier De Vlaam The railway man was the only solution that television offered that evening next to stupid game shows or standard, boring action movies. The description was not very hope giving (to confront his former enemy from a japanese war camp) and we feared some horror-torture scenes. We were blown away, I admit it...it's an intense movie that shows how extreme traumas can impact a human being. The torture scenes were limited to the amount needed to show the horrors that people can do to each other, the focus was constantly more on the mental problems and questions on how to handle life with these traumas and to confront them. It shows how horrible people can to each other but also how beautiful. And that war does not end in the minds of people when the fighting stops.highly recommended

dromasca Can the unforgivable be forgiven? What is the right attitude towards perpetrators and collaborators of crimes of war, genocide and torture? Does time really heal? Is revenge the right answer? Is forgiveness possible and who has the right to forgive? Such questions are often asked in the war and especially Holocaust literature and cinema. Answers differ, as they do in real life and history. The Railway Man, the strong dramatic film inspired by the true characters and life stories of Eric Lomax and Takesi Nagase, asks and tries to provide an answer in the historical context of the killing prisoner camps of British prisoners in Japanese occupied Indochina during WWII.For many of the survivors of genocides or atrocities the wars that inflicted their sufferance never end. This was for many decades the case of Eric Lomax (acted as a young man by Jeremy Irvine and by Colin Firth at his maturity). He surrounds himself with a wall of silence and has difficulties to adapt to life after the war. The late story of love in his life (the second marriage in his real biography) imposes on him the duty to come to terms - one way or another - with his past. He has a chance that his fellows (like officer Finlay acted by Stellan Skarsgård) would not have. This means meeting face to face his torturer and traveling back to the infamous Kwai river area where the allied prisoners who fell in the hands of the Japanese were held during the war. This type of prisoner - guardian (or torturer) encounter many years later can also be seen in various war and Holocaust books films. Eventually - and this also happened in real life in this case - reconciliation and forgiveness prevail over enmity and revenge, with the former enemies having the chance to look one into the eyes of the other. The balance between honor and dignity in time of war switches, as the guilt turns into remorse, and revenge into forgiveness. The auto-biographical book written by Eric Lomax was turned by the script in a dramatic and romantic story which succeeds to be true to the essence while omitting some of the details of the story (for example Eric's first marriage). Colin Firth achieves one of the best performances in his career, with very good support from Stellan Skarsgård and Nicole Kidman. Director Jonathan Teplitzky does a fine efficient job in telling the story in a fluent manner, with discretion and avoiding useless effects. The flashbacks from the war times are very well filmed and the period rendered in a very credible manner. Conflicts between nations include a myriad of personal conflicts and stories of lives broken by wars. Peace and reconciliation between nations can become true and lasting only when most of the suffering is overcome. This film describes one possible story. We may agree or not with the path taken by the heroes, but we need to acknowledge and respect the dignified way it is being told and made public - including in this movie.

kosmasp Just when one thinks this is just another love story, this movie actually is much more than that. It's about dealing with your past in the present. It's also about fighting your (inner and outer) demons. Very nicely portrayed. Though the resolution might not feel right to some, this movie is consistent in what it is doing.The performances are really great and the flashbacks flesh out what and why the characters are in their current state. There is still a lot of in between the lines you can read and some things might feel either too much or too little (is it rough edges or soft edges?), but that will depend on your personal view of certain things. As it is, it portrays a battle (literally and metaphorically speaking), that is tough to fight with ...

Paul Creeden It is important to remember this film is based on true events between real people. Seeing this simply as a war film would miss the point. The film is exploring the stubborn disabling effects of war and violence on the mind. In a current Western world where PTSD is common in veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, we here about the veterans who kill or commit suicide. We hear the cry for more help by veteran organizations and government. This film gets down to the core issues which develop between individuals under the duress of bullying by patriotic leaders. Some comments here have decried the emphasis on torture. However, that torture on all levels is the subject of the film. The film isn't about the miraculous healing of a broken man by a woman. The sustaining support, albeit coolly English, of the tortured soldier by Kidman's character is a catalyst, not a cure.The scenes between Firth and Sanada are extremely well done. They reveal a process of grief and healing between two damaged people. Feeling pain and violence leading to forgiveness and friendship. The basis of all reconciliation and healing. I wonder if younger generations can appreciate the hard work this takes. I also wonder if they can appreciate the deep devastation of war and lethal violence on the human mind. They have been bathed in a media of violence.