Justin Kurzel’s small-screen adaptation of the award-winning book The Narrow Road to the Deep North is a harrowing story of love and loss set during, before and after the construction of Burma’s Death Railway.

In a timely discussion ahead of Anzac Day (and the series release on April 18) the Herald’s Mitchell Hageman chats with leading man and Belfast-born acting royalty Ciarán Hinds about the importance of remembrance and realising the complexity of the human condition when it’s put to the ultimate test.

It’s an understatement to say that Ciarán Hinds dove deep into a complex emotional realm for his latest performance, an impassioned portrait of a broken former POW named Dorrigo Evans.

The small screen is no stranger to stories showcasing the horrors of war, but very rarely do they paint the full picture of its psychological toll and the impacts it had on those who didn’t serve.

The Narrow Road to the Deep North does, and Hinds says it’s the expertly woven messages of love, loneliness, sacrifice and loss that drew him in.

The five-episode adaptation of Richard Flanagan’s Booker Prize-winning novel takes on the complex task from all sides, anchored by Hinds playing an older, emotionally scarred version of Jacob Elordi’s young soldier.

“I kind of devoured [the novel] and was really deeply, profoundly, emotionally engaged,” Hinds tells the Herald.

Ciarán Hinds digs deep for his new role as the older version of tortured war hero Dorrigo Evans. Photo / Misan Harriman

It’s a raw, visceral, disturbing affair, yet it expertly plays with the juxtaposition of beauty amid the chaos. Much of that comes down to its masterful use of timeline and pointed performances.

The series, set to be released a week before Anzac Day, follows Evan’s life before, during and after his time as a POW working on Burma’s Death Railway, while dealing with his unwinding personal and professional life.

“He’s got a double hammer hitting him over the head,” Hinds says of his character, who juggles a scandalous forbidden affair, his past baggage and mounting troubles in his career as a doctor.

By the end of the story, the reluctant hero will “end up as a kind of a shell in a way”.

A quote near the end of series by Evans’ “dutiful” wife struck Hinds the most, and it will no doubt strike a chord with audiences as well.

“I think you’re the loneliest man I’ve ever met,” she says, which Hinds thought was “quite an indictment to say that about someone after spending 40 years together”.

Jacob Elordi (left) plays the younger version of Dorrigo Evans. Photo / Ingvar Kenne

The pain of loneliness and a need for affection is also expertly realised in the series, with the camaraderie slipping away as men’s spirits begin to break.

Hinds is no stranger to treading this thematic ground, having covered it before in the likes of tortured epics such as There Will Be Blood and Rome.

In The Narrow Road to the Deep North, his character is a popular, well-established doctor after the war, yet he distances himself from those around him emotionally in many ways. Hinds described getting into this character mindset as a multifaceted approach.

“You need to go inside. You may be physically present, but your mind isn’t. It’s about trying to take command of the language and thought, and how the human manifests it.”

While they play the same character, Hinds only briefly saw his younger counterpart Elordi and “apologised for him turning into me at a late age”.

He also “hoped he didn’t offend anyone” with his Australian accent, which he worked with an accent coach to get realistic and historically appropriate.

“It’s complicated to do Australian, because you don’t want to lay it on too thick,” he says.

Hinds described working with Australian actress Heather Mitchell as a "dream". Photo / Ingvar Kenne

Having just wrapped up filming in New Zealand of the highly anticipated East of Eden (starring alongside Florence Pugh and Mike Faist), Hinds says he had enjoyed his time down under and the people he met.

He says working with acclaimed Australian actress Heather Mitchell, who plays his wife in The Narrow Road, was “a dream”.

“She’s so much fun. Justin [Kurzel] put us together and it fit very well,” he said, noting that she made him feel very welcome after travelling all this way.

Another key aspect of the series focuses on the concept of remembrance, something Hinds believes was integral to the fabric of the characters and is still prevalent today.

He cites the ongoing series motif of picture drawing and recording as a key storytelling device.

One soldier, who documents the horror through drawing a series of visual images, has a long-lasting impact on Dorrigo Evans’ mindset and the way he addresses remembrance through the story.

“He says if we don’t remember these things, they will come again,” Hinds recalls. “We know that, and it seems like we’ve learned nothing from history sometimes. I think there’s nothing wrong at all about remembering the sacrifice that people made”.

The Narrow Road to the Deep North premieres April 18 on Amazon Prime.

Mitchell Hageman joined the Herald’s entertainment and lifestyle team in 2024. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist for Hawke’s Bay Today.