BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, THE

(October 1957, U.S.)

British director David Lean was unquestionably one of the best of the 20th century. Had he made no other films other than LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962), DOCTOR ZHIVAGO (1965) and THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, he would have likely still been considered legendary status.

This film is a war film, to be sure, but it is hardly a combat film. There are moments of great action, but I would consider this to be more of a "cat and mouse" war and prison drama, where dialogue, cinematography, history and culture reign supreme. Oh, and by the way, the original novel for this film was written by French writer Pierre Boulle, the same man who wrote the original novel PLANET OF THE APES. The incidents portrayed in the film are mostly fictional, and though it depicts bad conditions and suffering caused by the building of the Burma Railway and its bridges, to depict the actual reality would have been too appalling for filmgoers back in 1957. Historically, the conditions were much worse than depicted in the film. The destruction of the bridge as depicted at the end of the film is entirely fictional. In fact, two bridges were built: a temporary wooden bridge and a permanent steel/concrete bridge a few months later. Both bridges were used for two years, until they were destroyed by Allied aerial bombing. The steel bridge was repaired and is still in use today.

As far as Alec Guinness' role in this film is concerned, let me just say that it's a damn shame that he'll forever be remembered most as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original STAR WARS trilogy. Not that I'm knocking the great Obi-Wan, but his performances in those films cannot even come close to his personality and style in this film. The inexplicable pride he takes in leading his British soldiers in the construction of the bridge is astounding. He is a man who truly believes in the military code and the honor of coming through as a proud British officer, even if it means committing acts that could be considered treasonous and even attempting to stop the men who will eventually destroy the bridge in the name of defeating the Japanese enemy.

Here's one more piece of interesting trivia: this film was first telecast complete by ABC-TV in 1966, as a three hours-plus special on The ABC Sunday Night Movie. The telecast of the film lasted more than three hours because of the commercial breaks. It was still highly unusual at that time for a television network to show such a long film in one evening; most films of that length were generally split into two parts and shown over two evenings. But the unusual move paid off for ABC because the telecast drew huge ratings.

THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI won the Oscar for best picture of 1957.

Favorite line or dialogue:

Lt. Colonel Nicholson: "I've been thinking. Tomorrow it will be twenty-eight years to the day that I've been in the service. Twenty-eight years in peace and war. I don't suppose I've been at home more than ten months in all that time. Still, it's been a good life. I loved India. I wouldn't have had it any other way. But there are times when suddenly you realize you're nearer the end than the beginning. And you wonder, you ask yourself, what the sum total of your life represents. What difference your being there at any time made to anything. Hardly made any difference at all, really, particularly in comparison with other men's careers. I don't know whether that kind of thinking's very healthy; but I must admit I've had some thoughts on those lines from time to time. But tonight... tonight!"