Like with Tintin, I was much more swayed by full trailers for War Horse than with what I saw in the teaser. Just a little bit more hint of scope and drama was enough to get me on board, though I’m still entirely in the dark about whether or not I’m going to give a shit about this kid journeying to get his horse back. Jeremy Irvine is that kid, and he’s going to be in front of a lot of eyeballs this Christmas as he makes his way through World War I at an age much too young for war (as if there is a proper age). Now though, he’ll be signing up to play a soldier in the great World War II as a character that will also be played as an older man by Colin Firth.
The Railway Man is a project from Jonathan Telitzky (Burning Man, Better Than Sex), and it follows a British officer who became a Japanese POW, forced to work and endure the infamous Death Railway. This railway, also called the Burma Railway, was a massive project set forth by the Japanese Empire during the war, and was completed (and repaired after numerous allied bombings) by enslaved POWS and refugees under deadly conditions. Eric Lomax wrote the memoir on which the film will be based, and it sounds like he has a hell of story. Should make for a good script, if Frank Cottrell Boyce (Tristam Shandy, Millions) and Andy Paterson can crack it interestingly.
While Irvine is the wildcard in War Horse, he’s already been cast opposite Ralph Fiennes in a Great Expectations adaptation so his performance must already be pleasing somebody. This project has a similar auro of award-baiting prestige as the other projects Irvine has signed onto… perhaps he’s gunning for an Oscar right out of the gate.
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Source | THR