The Railway Man
Adapted from Eric Lomax’s autobiography of the same name, The Railway Man tells his story from his capture by the Japanese during World War II, his forced labour on the Thai-Burma Railway right through to his search for justice as a grown man.
To celebrate the film’s release on DVD and Blu-ray on 5th May 2014 courtesy of Lionsgate Home Entertainment, we count down the most effective memoir-based films to have hit screens.
- Angela’s Ashes (1999)
Based on the memoirs of Irish author Frank McCourt, Angela’s Ashes was co-written and directed by Alan Parker (Bugsy Malone), and starred Emily Watson and Robert Carlyle as McCourt’s parents.
Recounting his childhood, the film tracks McCourt as he moves from America to Ireland due to financial difficulties, and his constant attempts to earn enough money to one day move back to the States.
Angela's Ashes is a book that you have to read if you haven't and the story has been beautifully realised in this movie.
Parker really does manage to capture the devastating effect of poevery in such a powerful way.
- A Mighty Heart (2007)
Mariane Pearl’s memoir A Mighty Heart recounted the real-life search for Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl, kidnapped in Karachi by supporters of British terrorist Omar Sheikh.
Daniel’s wife Mariane is played by Angelina Jolie in director Michael Winterbottom’s depiction of events which end in the most tragic way imaginable.
In 2007 director Michael Winterbottom brought Pearl's book to the big screen, with Angelina Jolie in the central role.
Jolie is perfectly cast as Mariane, as she shows tha full range of emotions of a woman who is caught in a desperate and devastating situation: she shines from first frame to the last.
Winterbottom has to be applauded for delievering a powerful movie that chooses not to go into graphic details of the violence that Daniel Pearl would have faced.
- The Pianist (2002)
Roman Polanski’s adaptation of pianist and composer Wladyslaw Szpilman’s memoirs was met with universal acclaim when released in 2002, the true life account of the man (here played by the Oscar-winning Adrien Brody) trying to survive the destruction of a Warsaw ghetto in WWII capturing hearts of nation’s worldwide.
Szpilman died in Warsaw at the age of 88, two films before the film was released.
The Pianist remains Brody's defining moment, as he gives a truly tour-de-force performance.
This is possibly Polanski's most personal movie of his directing career, and yet he never once gives into senitment. This is a powerful movie that was not afraid to show the harrowing devastation.
I have to say, I am not a huge Polanski fan, but The Pianist really is a triumph. Brody is just sublime.
- My Week with Marilyn (2011)
Michelle Williams stars as the late Hollywood starlet Marilyn Monroe in Simon Curtis’ film, which is based on two books by Colin Clark which describes his experiences working on the production of the 1957 film The Prince and the Showgirl, starring both Monroe and Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh).
The film focuses on the week Monroe spent in London escorted by Clark - here played by the wide-eyed Eddie Redmayne.
This movie totally depended on the casting of the central role of Marilyn Monroe, and Michelle Williams is just perfect.
She totally embodies Monroe from the opening scene to the rolling credits and shows the conflict between the woman the world adored and the troubled soul behind closed doors.
It is a very moving performance from Williams as she shows Monroe's daily struggle with being the most famous woman in the world and her desperate need to find someone that loves her.
This is an enchanting movie that takes you into the past and brings you face to face with one of cinema's biggest icons - telling a truly heartbreaking tale along the way.
- An Education (2009)
British film An Education was directed by Lone Scherfig (One Day) and its script from author Nick Hornby was based on a memoir by British journalist Lynn Barber.
The memoir was originally written about a teenage love affair she had, with the film starring Carey Mulligan as a 16-year-old girl who becomes involved with Peter Sarsgaard’s Jewish businessman, David Goldman.
An Eduction was the movie that really put Mulligan on the map, as she gives a fresh and totally exhilariating central peformance: it was a performance that would see her nominated for her first Best Actress Oscar.
Peter Sarsgaard is also terrific as the older man who leads the teenage astray.
- The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)
This Spanish biopic based upon the written memoir of 23-year-old Ernesto Guevara recounts his 1952 expedition across South America alongside his friend Alberto Granado by motorcycle.
Interestingly several years later, Ernesto would become known internationally as revolutionary Che Guevara, and The Motorcycle Diaries finds himself transformed by his observations on impoverished life they encounter on their trek.
Ernesto Guevara is an iconic figure, and yet The Motorcycle Diaries depicts him as far more vulnerable than we have ever seen on screen before.
The Motorcycle Diaries is a movie that really does have huge heart, and is as thought-provoking as it is funny.
From start to finish this is a terrific watch, as well as looking stunningly beautiful.
- 127 Hours (2011)
Aron Ralston’s much talked about memoir Between a Rock and a Hard Place tells the story of how the adventurer became trapped by a boulder in Utah in April 2003, spawning Danny Boyle’s Oscar-nominated film 127 Hours, in which James Franco plays Ralston.
With his arm stuck behind a boulder for the majority of the running time, Boyle’s film does well in encapsulating Ralston’s marvellous desire to live.
It is a fantastic performance by James Franco who has to show what he is really made of as an actor as he has very little to work with - no co-stars, no change of scenery and yet he gives the best turn of his career.
127 Hours is a terrific movie from start to finish as Boyle shows you that you can deliver a riveting and moving film with just one actor and in a single location - Boyle & Franco really are at their very best with this film.
- The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
This French biographical film is based on Jean-Dominique Bauby’s memoirs of the same name, telling his incredible story: after suffering a massive stroke at the age of 43, Bauby was left with locked-in syndrome, a condition which paralysed him from the neck down, and led to his right eye being sewn up.
With one eye left working, the only way Bauby could communicate was by blinking. Julian Schnabel (Before Night Falls) was the one to bring this incredible to the big screen for all to discover.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly was one of the most powerful films to hit the big screen in 2007 - it remains one of the best directorial effots from Julian Schnabel.
This is a movie that really does explore what it means to be alive, and it will stay with you long after the credits have rolled.
This is a beautiful and deeply affecting movie. Just perfection.
- Persepolis (2008)
This French-American animated film is based on Marjane Satrapi’s autobiographical graphic novel, directed by the lady herself alongside Vincent Paronnaud.
Following a young girl as she comes of age against the backdrop of the Iranian Revolution, the film tells the factual story of Satrapi, with the title referring to the historic New Persian city of Persepolis.
Persepolis is a mix of a movie: it is a coming of age tale as well as a war movie. While those two themes are perhaps not necessarily the easiest of bedfellows, Satrapi balances them beautifully.
The monochrome animation is beautiful yet stark and this is mixed with the surprise humour that is in the script.
The political element is very understated throughout the whole film but when it does raise its head it’s like a slap in the face.
Persepolis was one of my favourite movief of 2008, and is a film that is not to be missed.
The Railway Man is released on DVD and Blu-ray on 5th May 2014, courtesy of Lionsgate Home Entertainment.