The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957) ****
Despite historical inaccuracies and a running time that stretches a bit further than needed, The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957) is a rousing adventure film of impressive scope. As I get older, Bridge does begin to feel a bit more like a product of its time instead of an all-out timeless classic. At this point, given what I just mentioned and the fact that I've seen it numerous times, it's the kind of film that I can drift in and out on a Sunday afternoon, but still enjoy the same experience.
Director David Lean's film about British prisoners of war forced to build a bridge on the "Death Railway" for the Japanese Army during World War II is based on Pierre Boulle's (who also wrote Planet Of The Apes in 1963) book The Bridge Over The River Kwai (1952), which I've read, but don't recall much of (might be time for a re-read). According to Wikipedia "Boulle had been a prisoner of the Japanese in Southeast Asia and his story of collaboration was based on his experience with French officers. However, he chose instead to use British officers in his book."
In the film, Alec Guinness' character, Colonel Nicholson, stubbornly refuses that he or his officers partake in manual labor (that’s only for the “lowly” enlisted men), as ordered by their captor, Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa), since they are exempt from such work per the Geneva Convention. His rigidity to strictly adhere to rules, even in the face of death comes off a bit selfish and foolish and there is definitely a ‘British superiority over the Japanese’ angle, but it makes for good drama, I suppose. In reality, the conditions were far worse—tens of thousands of POWs died and upwards of 100,000 civilians died building the Burma Railway.
Director David Lean's film about British prisoners of war forced to build a bridge on the "Death Railway" for the Japanese Army during World War II is based on Pierre Boulle's (who also wrote Planet Of The Apes in 1963) book The Bridge Over The River Kwai (1952), which I've read, but don't recall much of (might be time for a re-read). According to Wikipedia "Boulle had been a prisoner of the Japanese in Southeast Asia and his story of collaboration was based on his experience with French officers. However, he chose instead to use British officers in his book."
In the film, Alec Guinness' character, Colonel Nicholson, stubbornly refuses that he or his officers partake in manual labor (that’s only for the “lowly” enlisted men), as ordered by their captor, Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa), since they are exempt from such work per the Geneva Convention. His rigidity to strictly adhere to rules, even in the face of death comes off a bit selfish and foolish and there is definitely a ‘British superiority over the Japanese’ angle, but it makes for good drama, I suppose. In reality, the conditions were far worse—tens of thousands of POWs died and upwards of 100,000 civilians died building the Burma Railway.
It's always struck me as funny that this is considered an "American" film (and hence on the AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies list)—due to the financiers—because its director and two of the top-billed stars are British, its setting is Burma (now Myanmar), the opponent is Japanese, and it was shot in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). The film's catchy theme (adapted from the "Colonel Bogey March"), whistled by the prisoners as they march, is one the great earworms of our time and the tense build-up to the explosive finale is expertly handled, it just takes a long time to get there. Personally, I prefer Lean's other epics, Lawrence Of Arabia (1962) (review) and Doctor Zhivago (1965) (review), over Bridge, but there is no denying its importance in the cinema landscape.
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