First trailer for Scots PoW film The Railway Man

Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman pictured at the Creative Scotland offices in Edinburgh in April 2012. Picture: Jane Barlow

Based on the memoirs of Edinburgh-born British Army officer Eric Lomax, the film charts the story of the soldier tormented as a prisoner of war in a Japanese labour camp during the Second World War who, years later, discovers one of his captors, interpreter Takashi Nagase, is still alive and sets out to confront him and his own haunting past.

Some of the film’s scenes were shot in and around the Scottish capital, including in Mr Lomax’s adopted town of North Berwick, in the town’s Tantallon Terrace, and on the nearby beach in May last year.

Mr Lomax was captured by the Japanese in February 1942, following the surrender of Singapore. He was later taken to Thailand where he was forced to help build the Burma Railway.

He died in October 2012 at the age of 93.

Speaking in August 2012 after meeting Mr Lomax and his wife Patti - portrayed in the film by Nicole Kidman - Colin Firth admitted he felt ‘a little overwhelmed’ at the story.

He said: “They [Eric and Patti] are both incredibly engaging and made me feel very welcome.

“It was important to me to meet them. It focused me and it was something that was very sobering, but also the story is such a big one and about a generation prior to my own, it can feel a bit abstract, a little bit out of reach. But to meet Eric personalised it and humanised it.”

Ms Kidman, who also met the couple, added: “I wanted to form the character first and then meet her [Patti], so I was not trying to force myself into being her.

“She is very much the heroine of this film; that is what drew me to the role. I found the subject matter very moving.”

The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival earlier this month.