Colin Firth in New Film About Burma

Actor gets leading role in World War Two memoir

Chiswick's best-known actor Colin Firth will shortly start filming his latest role. His first major project for this year is the part of Eric Lomax in the film ' The Railway Man' which starts shooting in the UK, Thailand,and Burma in the next few weeks.

Lomax was a British officer who was captured and tortured by the Japanese during the Second World War. The film is based on his memoir of experiences on the' 'Death Railways' where many British prisoners perished. The railway links Bangkok to Yangon in Burma, now Myanmar.

In later life he sought to track down his interrogators and a documentary, 'Enemy My Friend' was made about his reunion with the Japanese jailers.The script for The Railway Man is co-written by Frank Cottrell Boyce and Andy Peterson . The latter worked with Colin Firth on 'Girl With a Pearl Earring'.

The Railway Man is the first major investment of Latitude Media, and was announced at the Toronto Film Festival last year by Lionsgate UK who have the UK distribution rights.

"To have Colin Firth in such a compelling story as The Railway Man is a real coup for us" commented Lionsgate UK Chief Executive Zygi Kamasa, who is Executive Producer for the film. He described it a " an epic tale of love and redemption".

Also starring as the young Eric Lomax is Jeremy Irvine, currently on television starring as Pip in 'Great Expectations'. He has also been featured recently as the boy in Steven Spielberg's film of Michael Murpurgo's novel 'War Horse'.

January 5, 2012