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| Colin Firth on The Railway Man: 'a whole chapter of history not taught' | Colin Firth on The Railway Man: 'a whole chapter of history not taught' |
| (3 months later) | |
| The cast and crew of The Railway Man have urged for wider understanding of the plight of prisoners-of-war working on the Burma railway during the second world war. | The cast and crew of The Railway Man have urged for wider understanding of the plight of prisoners-of-war working on the Burma railway during the second world war. |
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| Colin Firth, who stars in the film as Eric Lomax, a real-life railway enthusiast from Scotland who struggled to cope both with his brutal treatment when incarcerated, and with the emotional scars such suffering left him later in life, explained how his knowledge of the period was informed not by history classes or cinema but though reading and conversations with a family friend. "This whole chapter of history didn't feature certainly in my classes, nor in film lore in the way the European wars did. It's not as much a part of the conversation." | Colin Firth, who stars in the film as Eric Lomax, a real-life railway enthusiast from Scotland who struggled to cope both with his brutal treatment when incarcerated, and with the emotional scars such suffering left him later in life, explained how his knowledge of the period was informed not by history classes or cinema but though reading and conversations with a family friend. "This whole chapter of history didn't feature certainly in my classes, nor in film lore in the way the European wars did. It's not as much a part of the conversation." |
| He was joined at a press conference for the film, which premiered at the Toronto film festival, by Patti Lomax, the widow of Eric, who died last year. Patti, who is played in the film by Nicole Kidman, was keen to flag up the film's relevance for today's troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. "Unless they get real help immediately after they come back, and ongoing, for themselves and their families, then the trauma they have received colours their whole lives." | He was joined at a press conference for the film, which premiered at the Toronto film festival, by Patti Lomax, the widow of Eric, who died last year. Patti, who is played in the film by Nicole Kidman, was keen to flag up the film's relevance for today's troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. "Unless they get real help immediately after they come back, and ongoing, for themselves and their families, then the trauma they have received colours their whole lives." |
| Frank Cottrell Boyce, who adapted Lomax's memoir for the big screen, said he felt testimony from this period had been ignored because Britain had won the war. "We didn't want to hear stories about defeat and, in fact, surrender. That wasn't the right time for them. And then collectively those men had been so traumatised that they didn't speak themselves. They never had a voice." | Frank Cottrell Boyce, who adapted Lomax's memoir for the big screen, said he felt testimony from this period had been ignored because Britain had won the war. "We didn't want to hear stories about defeat and, in fact, surrender. That wasn't the right time for them. And then collectively those men had been so traumatised that they didn't speak themselves. They never had a voice." |
| He also echoed Patti's reminder of the story's topicality. The film includes protracted scenes in which the young Lomax - played by Jeremy Irvine - is brutally beaten, kept in a bamboo cage, then strapped to a table in a windowless shed, where a rag put across his face and a hose of water forced into this mouth. | He also echoed Patti's reminder of the story's topicality. The film includes protracted scenes in which the young Lomax - played by Jeremy Irvine - is brutally beaten, kept in a bamboo cage, then strapped to a table in a windowless shed, where a rag put across his face and a hose of water forced into this mouth. |
| "These are very live issues," said Cottrell Boyce. "This isn't just about a forgotten moment in history. The way that Eric was tortured was water-boarding. When we first started working on this film that seemed like a kind if antique remote thing and now it's part of how we do business in the West." | "These are very live issues," said Cottrell Boyce. "This isn't just about a forgotten moment in history. The way that Eric was tortured was water-boarding. When we first started working on this film that seemed like a kind if antique remote thing and now it's part of how we do business in the West." |
| Lomax himself died last year before he saw any footage, but one of his and Patti's sons was present on set every day, with Patti a regular visitor. One scene, Cottrall Boyce recalled, was shot at the end of the street where the Lomaxs lived in Berwick-upon-Tweed. He was too frail to venture outside, so Firth and Kidman visited him at home. | Lomax himself died last year before he saw any footage, but one of his and Patti's sons was present on set every day, with Patti a regular visitor. One scene, Cottrall Boyce recalled, was shot at the end of the street where the Lomaxs lived in Berwick-upon-Tweed. He was too frail to venture outside, so Firth and Kidman visited him at home. |
| "He was jazzed by that visit, and he did want to come and visit the set. But we'd moved by then, up a hill, and it was quite windblown and awkward and all the electricians had to carry him up in his wheelchair like something from a Herzog movie." Once there, Lomax - a trainspotter to the end - enquired about the gauge of tracking used for the dolly shot. | "He was jazzed by that visit, and he did want to come and visit the set. But we'd moved by then, up a hill, and it was quite windblown and awkward and all the electricians had to carry him up in his wheelchair like something from a Herzog movie." Once there, Lomax - a trainspotter to the end - enquired about the gauge of tracking used for the dolly shot. |
| The film shows how Lomax and his chief tormenter in Thailand met up years later, reconciled and became close friends. His widow hoped that it was this message of personal survival that audiences would take from the film. | The film shows how Lomax and his chief tormenter in Thailand met up years later, reconciled and became close friends. His widow hoped that it was this message of personal survival that audiences would take from the film. |
| "No matter how bleak life might be there's always a way forward if you're open to see it. Hanging on to old angers and slights and whatever life throws at you shouldn't stop you living. I think really that is a legacy that my husband has left. And it's as relevant to today as it was to yesterday." | "No matter how bleak life might be there's always a way forward if you're open to see it. Hanging on to old angers and slights and whatever life throws at you shouldn't stop you living. I think really that is a legacy that my husband has left. And it's as relevant to today as it was to yesterday." |
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