Firth and Kidman Chug Along in The Railway Man
Friday, July 19, 2013 at 3:34PM 
Glenn here looking at an upcoming film from my home country. I may live in America now, but I am still very much interested in what Australia is producing (as I and many of my fellow countrymen can attest, it's probably against my better judgement to do so). One title I've been keeping an eye on is Jonathan Teplitzky's The Railway Man. There a was a minor fuss a few years back when The King's Speech producers were denied Australian funding and, thus, when it won Oscars it was unable to be classified as an Australian co-production despite its producers being Australian and its others local ties. Well, the funding bodies learned their lesson and are officially on board with The Railway Man, a British/Australia co-production from the memoir by Eric Lomax.
Nathaniel showed a bit more faith than others in the project by listing it in several of his Oscar categories. Other prognosticators don't seem to even know it exists! I've been skeptical that the film would even see the light of day in 2013 since the Australian media love being able to hail a star vehicle such as this as "ours", and yet there hadn't been a peep in terms of trailers, posters, or a release date. They'd be all over it ("Our Nicole Returns Home!" read headlines during production) if there was anything to actually talk about. Well, it's Australian distributor has finally put it onto the schedule and they chose the biggest day of the year - Boxing Day, 2013. [more]
Kidman on set of The Railway Man
Arguably the most competitive and busiest moviegoing day of the year in Australia, The King's Speech, The Iron Lady and Quartet are all adult-oriented titles that started their huge box office on this post-Christmas day while the young kids were all off enjoying Tintin or The Hobbit or whatever other kids' fare was on offer that year. Putting it out on this day is a big sign of faith in Transmission Films and gives me hope that maybe the film is more than just a polite, dour WWII period drama that we've seen before. I'll always have faith in director Teplitzky either way, his prior films Better Than Sex (with David Wenham) and Burning Man (with Matthew Goode and Rachel Griffiths) are both highly recommended and there's little reason to expect he'd fumble the ball with Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman of all people on hand.
To be honest, I'm surprised Harvey Weinstein hasn't picked the film up yet given his success with somewhat soft-edged war dramas (The Reader, The King's Speech for example) and we know Firth and Kidman likely had to sign their souls away once they won their Academy Awards under his watch. He surely has a lot on his plate this year (including another Nicole Kidman project, Grace of Monaco - perhaps she doesn't want to market two films in one season?) There's no word yet on an American distributor let alone release date, although I probably wouldn't be surprised to see it play in Toronto and be picked up there. Surely there's somebody out there that thinks there is money to be made from Firth, Kidman, and WWII.
Colin Firth in a still from The Railway ManIf the world outside of Australia does get to see The Railway Man in 2013, will you go alone? Is there an awards future in it? Will you watch anything Nicole Kidman makes or are you a more discerning Kidmaniac? Have you seen Jonathan Teplizky's other films (because you really, really should)?
So many unanswered questions...
Reader Comments (15)
cultural cringe much, Glenn?
I will watch anything Nicole makes, yes.
I love Nicole and Colin but I won't automatically watch everything they make. But Nicole, Colin and an Australian made WW2 drama? I'm there.
Matt, trust me when I say that I am one of the most open-minded filmwatchers when it comes to Australian cinema. I try and watch as much of it as possible, but if anything that gives me even greater credence when I say that we make A LOT of crap. So, just like America and Britain and France and any other country that makes more than 20 films a year.
Besides, I'm very much looking forward to the film. No cultural cringe from me there (unless it's bad, of course).
I'd watch Kidman in anything, ANYTHING. Bring on Practical Magic 2.
The UK release date is Jan 3, which is a competitive time there too, I think.
I read in an article about the Australian release date and it mentioned that producers are currently "negotiating" a North American distribution deal, so we''ll here about it soon, I'd gather.
If the release date/distributor is good, this could totally be that last minute film that always shows up in the awards race.
Glenn, you moved to the States?! But how are you gonna get to MIFF this year? It starts like next week!
Meanwhile - to the 'cultural cringe' commenter above - a) you could use some, b) dear lord have you chosen the wrong person to pick on here:
I for one have yet to come across a single human being, much less film critic, who champions Australian films and thespians with Glenn's fervour and commitment. In fact I feel like this is the first time I've read him say anything even remotely negative about the industry. I was mildly shocked.
Glenn, my beef wasn't with the stated attitude to Australian film [though I am glad to see your subsequent qualification that crap films know no national borders] but rather the attitude to Australian media [and by extension the Australian public], in particular the statement:
" "Our Nicole Returns Home!" read headlines during production."
I may be being too literal, but I don't really think that we had headlines like that especially since everything I can find on the net suggests that Kidman's scenes were all shot overseas. Even the regional press seems to have had a much higher standard with their headlines.
Ten years ago I wouldn't be surprised with the sentiment, but i honestly don't think it applies now.
That said, we will still claim blow ins as ours (Crowe, Campion and Watts et al) and for a country of immigrants so we should.
Now, if you wanted to cringe about our hideous asylum seeker policies or our indigenous human rights record I'd be cringing right along side you....
It still very much applies today, I think. Media are generally more interested in Australian celebrities than cinema so when the two combine it's like catnip to them. The cast call photoshop for Railway Man was featured on the prime time news.
Goran, I shall be skipping MIFF (but, it's okay, I got to attend San Francisco and Tribeca festivals and will attend NY and others while here).
I am so looking forward to see this film.Im watching it because it is an excellent film. I read this book 6 months ago. And lastly, I will watch this because of Miss Nicole Kidman. And I know she will be nominated in the Oscars for Supporting CATEGORY IN THIS FILM AND BEST ACTRESS CATEGORY FOR GRACE OF MONACO.
I hadn't heard of the director Jonathan Teplitzky before, but am glad to hear of your good opinion of him. If his last movie was about grief, and this one about oppression and forgiveness, he seems like someone unafraid to tackle complex issues. I look forward to seeing the film.
Adri, "Burning Man" was, I felt, a very strong film and one that I actually compared to "We Need to Talk About Kevin" in terms of its editing and structure, and how it flowed from memory to memory. "Better Than Sex" is less ambitious no less well-written, and "Gettin' Square" is a comedy that occasionally errs on questionable taste, but is frequently funny. I hope he goes four for four. I was indeed surprised he was hired to direct it, but I think "Burning Man" really showed he was able to go high gloss without having to compromise the adult-oriented drama and the acting.
Kidman's day has passed and nobody cares.
Ken, I don't know what Kidman "day" you're referring to but her time as a gifted actress is not over until she decides to quit. She is not a box-office draw (never has been) but her best films are popular around the world on DVD and TV.
Yet another Kidman botoxed box office bomb.