Firth goes forth

The last time filmmakers went up the River Kwai, it earned the leading actor an Oscar. That was 55 years ago when Alec Guinness took home the statuette for his role as pig-headed Colonel Nicholson in David Lean's POW epic, The Bridge on the River Kwai.

Now Firth is hoping that lightning might strike twice as he embarks on his latest film, The Railway Man, based on the real-life experiences of Eric Lomax who endured the hardships of working on the Thai/Burma railroad during World War Two.

Firth, who won his own first Oscar last year for recreating a Royal life in The King's Speech, says he's feels "overwhelmed by the enormity" of the story in which he co-stars with Nicole Kidman (with whom he's pictured below at the film's press launch in Edinburgh), Stellan Skarsgard and War Horse's Jeremy Irvine, as the younger Lomax.

The Anglo-Australian film, based on the award-winning book by Lomax, who's still going strong at 92, is currently shooting in Scotland, Thailand and Queensland.