Just receiving its theatrical release now is a character study / question of morality film based on a true story begun in World War II. A British engineer (Jeremy Irvine) is among several taken prisoner in Singapore by the Japanese. As prisoners, the engineers are forced to work on a railroad being constructed through Thailand to Burma. An incident occurs which causes the Japanese to torture him, almost to the point of death, but he survives. Years after the war, he (now Colin Firth) discovers that one of his torturers is still alive, and he sets out to confront the man.
Jonathan Teplitzky’s film is a character study of Eric Lomax, who was so traumatized by his weeks of torture that even years later, he cannot talk about that time to his wife (Nicole Kidman) or best friend (Stellan Starsgaard), who was also a prisoner but didn’t face the same ordeal. Lomax has been hiding his anger, shame and self-pity for so long that he’s about ready to explode. He tries to stay connected to the people who care about him, but his mind constantly returns to a time and events that have scarred him forever. And then he gets an opportunity to face the past and eradicate the person who caused him so much pain.
More than that, however, the film is a question of morality. Does Lomax have the right to kill the man who almost killed him? Can he do it? Do years upon years of mental anguish give someone enough justification to seek revenge? Is violence bred of war something that can be forgiven? These and other questions swirl around Eric Lomax as he grimly prepares to finish something that started forty years previously.
The film establishes its premise quite nicely, and then convincingly recreates the living hell that the British soldiers encountered in captivity. Its scenes of brutality are properly harsh and unflinching. The film is a little less assured in its later scenes, in which Colin Firth assumes the role and continually loses himself in the past. Firth is very good, as is Kidman, and yet the situation seems more obvious than perhaps it should. I think a little more desperation was called for in Lomax’s life. Nevertheless, once he returns to the scene of his captivity, the film is razor sharp and incredibly taut. Its ending may not please everyone but it is honest — and true, as evidenced by the end credits. I appreciated how it ended quite a lot; I just wish that it been a little more dramatic getting to that point. ☆ ☆ ☆. 2 May 2014.