Colin Firth is out for vengeance in the trailer for The Railway Man

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

THE BRIDGE OVER THE RIVER KWAI is a classic film that told the story of the torturous experience endured by British POWs during the constructing of the Thai-Burma Railway (aka The Death Railway). That film showed the horrors they experienced at the hands of their captors and how they made it through the ordeal. But, what about what those soldiers dealt with after the war had ended? THE RAILWAY MAN explores one of those stories.

Based on the autobiography of Eric Lomax, THE RAILWAY MAN stars Colin Firth as one of those British POWs who discovers that his Japanese captor is alive and vows revenge. The film is not an action film along the lines of TAKEN but rather a more upscale look at what one man would do to turn the tables on those who did him harm. Here’s the synopsis:

ric 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?

THE RAILWAY MAN also stars Nicole Kidman, Stellan Skarsgard, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Jeremy Irvine and looks pretty intense. The trailer opens like any number of British dramas about a couple dealing with their marital problems before it takes a turn to a darker place. From this short amount of footage, I cannot decide if this is a war film, a revenge movie, or just an all around intense drama. Whatever the case, I am interested to find out.

THE RAILWAY MAN premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and is slated to open in the UK January 2014. There is no current US release date yet.