The Bridge on the River Kwai
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Movie Reviews of The Bridge on the River Kwai
Movie Review: The Wise Coward and Foolish Hero Save Face
Summary: 5 Stars
David Lean (Lawrence of Arabia) directs this 1957 adapatation of Pierre Boulle's (author of 'Planet of the Apes') great World War II novel. The film still stands as one of the greatest war films ever made with superb direction and an all-star cast that provide deep character studies with all the action and tension one expects from a war story.
Confined to an inhospitable Japanese prison camp burried in the jungles of Southeast Asia, a British POW, Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness), is subjected to the cruel torture of the camp commander Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa) for choosing to stand for principle as to the treatment of his officers. Saito needs competent engineers and laborers to build a railroad tressle bridge on a tight schedule and, although at first infuriated by Nicholson's stiff upper lip and low opinion of Japanese culture, he begins to exploit Nicholson's ego to compel him to build the bridge properly and on time. Thinking that he will show the 'inferior' Japanese how much better the English are in engineering, Nicholson becomes obsessed with building the enemy bridge and oblivious to the treasonous implications of such an act. In the mean time, a cowardly American POW (William Holden) escapes to safety only to be later coerced by the English to return and sabotage the bridge in a commando raid. Leading the British demolition expert (Jack Hawkins), Holden's character returns to the bridge for the final showdown.
This is a brilliant war film with a plot that's primarily character driven as opposed to action driven: the tension comes from the clash of wills between all of the characters as opposed to a non-stop action clash of arms. The film also seems to deal with the uncertain consequences of bravery and cowardice in the sense that, although Nicholson at first bravely stands for his principles, he blindly becomes a suppliant to Colonel Saito's plans to finish the bridge. On the other hand, although Holden's character is the epidemy of cowardice and self-interest, it is he who becomes one of the true heroes of the story. The film in essence follows the story by Pierre Boulle but, as is almost always the case, the book is better. In the book, there is no flinching to Nicholson's unrelenting snobbishness and utter stupidity and he does not 'wake up' at the last minute to fall on the detonator: the mission fails. Also, William Holden's character does not exist. There is no American ex-POW guiding the commandos back to the bridge.
This film is very well directed and has great camera work. Filmed in Sri Lanka, the great cinematography captures every ray of heat and drop of humidity one finds in the dense jungle. The acting is top knotch all the way around. Finally, who can forget the timeless whistling tune sung by the POWs. This is another great drama that should be in every war film lover's collection.
Movie Review: Psychological battle of wills!
Summary: 5 Stars
This film is a real tour de force dilema . I have always considered this work as a true example of the leadership vision . In a corner we see the single minded leadership of the Colonel (Alec Guiness) who considers a honor concern to build the bridge demanded for the Japanese authority in the camp.
But there are other wills who see in this fact the possibility to escape and this commitment will be carried to the last consequences .
It is useless to comment it this war jewel , the timeless battle between the epic and the loyalty ; the will against the destiny ; the duty against the freedom .
This movie is now part of the cinema story and it is a wonderful example about the leadership means .
All the awards this film received were deservedly won .
One of the supreme masterpieces of David Lean ; by far, the best brittish director of the XX century.
Movie Review: Certainly one of the great cinematic war epics!
Summary: 5 Stars
David Lean's THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI is certainly one of the great war epics of the cinema. It might be an even better film than his equally celebrated LAWRENCE OF ARABIA. The latter film has, at the center of all the visual grandeur and epic scale, a character than is equally larger-than-life. The main characters of BRIDGE, on the other hand, are more humanly scaled, and I was grateful for that. Here is a cinematic epic that isn't just empty spectacle, but has intriguing characters and a literate thoughtfulness that is becoming a rarity in movies these days. In a lesser film, for instance, characters like Col. Saito (Sessue Hayakawa), Col. Nicholson (Alec Guinness, in a performance that won a deserved Academy Award---as did the movie itself), and Shears (William Holden) might have been reduced to one-dimensional stereotypes. Here, they have fascinating complexities that help drive the plot and serve its theme, which can pretty much be summed up by the final words of the movie: "Madness, madness!" The beauty here is that both Saito and Nicholson might be mad, but their madness isn't necessarily without justification.Of course, all this character development, which may or may not necessarily be interesting by itself, serves as a backdrop for what is essentially an adventure on a grand scale, and on that level it also works triumphantly, delivering beautiful widescreen cinematography, lush settings, and genuine suspense, particularly in its tense final moments. A glorious epic adventure that also never skimps on the human element, indeed makes it almost an integral part of the story---that is the magic of THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI. Highly recommended.
Movie Review: Madness! Madness!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
This famous movie is now 50 years old but still remains one of the great classics in film. It it a story about honor, about an English regiment that surrenders to the Japanese in WW II Burma. To not lose the English honor the colonel decides to show the Japanese colonel to help build the best bridge possible, thereby also humiliating the colonel who, if not finished on time, would kill himself.The English colonel remains naive, first he keeps sticking to the Geneva Convention but the Japanese don't give in.In the end he helps them with the bridge, of which he is very proud. But it is also aiding the enemy. His conflicts come to an amazing end.
Movie Review: Accurate history lesson? No. Great war film? Absolutely!
Summary: 4 Stars
I just saw this for the first time a few weeks ago. I was very, very impressed - though I did not anticipate it. For the first 15-20 minutes it kept looking to me like I was supposed to think of Alec Guiness as the hero of this film. After all, his men cheered for him and the patriotic music was playing for many of his scenes. But I heartily disagree with his character's convictions: officers will be exempt from manual (or enlisted) labors. In other words, the enlisted men would build the enemy's bridge while the officers stood by and watched (or supervised). Only one word comes to mind: Treason. I was glad to see this was not the case and that the screenplay writers had other things in mind.I have heard that this movie contains virtually no historical accuracy and that it has been criticized by the men who were actually involved in this particular incident. I can respect that. But it does not keep me from enjoying this movie. I think few people would watch this film, witness the colonel's attitudes toward the POW camp commander, and not think, "Surely, if this was real life, this man would be killed on the spot for what he is saying and doing." (Remember, most of the time Hollywood can't even successfully bring a fictional novel to the screen without butchering it.)
Another movie I have a deep respect for is Steven Spielberg's AMISTAD, which has also been reported as having numerous historical errors. Other films/shows which are based on true stories but contain historical inaccuracies (some to a lesser degree than others) include SCHINDLER'S LIST, BRAVEHEART, MAN ON THE MOON, SHADOWLANDS, television's LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, and just about anything from Oliver Stone.
It's always good to remember that Hollywood's primary purpose is to entertain. For education, books and documentaries (preferably those not put together by the Hollywood elite) are still the best (and most satisfying) ways to learn.