If you're on a computer, watch this in theater mode. The aspect ratio is a little weird with this one.

Most war films are action films with tension and violence. The Bridge on the River Kwai, however, should be regarded as a human drama set in a wartime POW camp. As such, it presents an almost perfect plot building up to a tremendous climax, leaving the audience with an emotional impact derived not from the tension and violence, but from the human characters set in impossible situations. A magnificent film.

The movie leaves Colonel Nicholson's intent ambiguous. He stands after a mortar round appears to concuss him and stumbles eyes unfocused. He collapses on the plunger. The tension of the movie is not between Nicholson and Saito, no need to have gratuitous POW camp violence as it would neither move the story forward or help explain the motivations of any of the characters. The POWs have a duty to resist, escape, and fight. Saito has a duty to complete the bridge. Nicholson believes himself to have a duty as an officer to do things the proper way with no regard to the rationale. His resistance is not to harass the enemy, but to ensure rules are followed. Yelling is not drama, and fiction is not documentary.

The Saito-Nicholson-Plot is great, in my opinion. Colonel Nicholson had an iron will, he was the dominator, he was in charge. That contrast to the beginning of the film is just so good.

Sir Alec Guinness - one of the best voices in cinematic history.

Great review of a wonderful film. Deserved it's 7 oscars. Marvellous cast and crew.

Good final take - I too felt it was a bit of a confused film. Then you go and read the backstory on it and you can understand WHY it's kind of confused. The switched writers, the conflict between Lean and Guinness, the perfunctory beach scene forced into the film by the studio. It's a bit of a mess inside, and as a modern day viewer you kind wonder what the fuss is all about. The final scene does cap it off well, but you're sort of left feeling thankful for that scene for saving the entire thing, because otherwise it'd be kind of just an awkward war movie likely forgotten by time.

Sessue Hayakawa (Colonel Saito) had a fun role in a Jerry Lewis film when the Asian girl Lewis is pursuing asks him to meet her father out in the garden. The camera follows them to find a silhouetted Japanese Colonel at the end of a dock brandishing a sword and yelling at a squad of workers who are building a small replica of the Kwai River bridge in a water feature.. The gang of course is whistling the Colonel Bogey March. The Colonel turns around and not surprisingly it's Hayakawa and he barks just like he did as Saito. Lewis knows he's heard that voice before but he masterfully screws up his face because he can't quite make the connection. Saito furthers the prod by telling Lewis that he (Saito) was building bridges before he (Guiness) was. The joke is completed by a short clip from the movie of Alec Guiness riding a cart through a gang of his troops working on the railroad. By today's standards the film moves at a glacial pace-I doubt you'd get many people to sit through the whole thing today. The cataclysmic ending is still one of the greatest spectacles in film and it's really great we can watch the ending by itself. If you look closely at the first explosion you'll see that in addition to the charges detonating at the bases of the piers, the demolition crew used a few "guarantee charges" on the deck to cut the structure at the piers, ensuring that the whole center section would. cleanly fall in the river. In addition, they also placed the charges on the bases of the piers closest to the camera so the deck would tilt down and be visible during its fall. The second explosion, which was to demolish the remaining pier and section of the bridge while the train was running off the end of it into the river, didn't produce the clean break the first explosion did but I would think the objective was to delay the destruction of that pier so the train would be the focus. I thought I read somewhere that over 20 cameras were used to shoot the scene, "just in case."

This is a very beautiful film 🥰🥰🥰 About my neighboring village srilanka💕💕

Your analysis is fantastic!

One of my favorite movies. I watch it several times a year.

Another fave

I think it would be good to remember that the British were the allies of the Japanese merely 20 years prior to this occupation depicted and were literally ordered to surrender by their higher ups. Further, to the British officer, who has a larger view of the overall conflict being waged, japan may well be their ally again in 5 years time and the country where the bridge is being built will likely be in British hands at the end of the conflict anyway (a mere 2 years or so hence). Building a bridge in a British colony currently under Japanese occupation is not all that horrible of a thing to do from his perspective. Especially as remote as that theatre of the war was from any major war defining areas. They're basically out in the boonies. He hopes the Brits get credit and the Burmese people (currently rebelling and trying to be free of Britain) will appreciate it. Obviously the Japanese high command back in Japan want the bridge most likely for wartime purposes but only because they think that their mighty empire will keep expanding, which the British dude knows isn't going to happen regardless (that is the bridge will be practically militarily useless if they build it or not). Of course, when he recognizes Shears who was obviously back as a saboteur he realizes that HQ must want the bridge destroyed (though in reality they probably barely care either way, tho hitting the VIPs and troops on the train is nice for them). That of course is what the movie is going for, but in reality the situation was quite different. Further, while it's fun to think that the Japanese commander should have been large and in charge the whole film, that's not in line with the historical reality. The British at that time would have been very likely to "take charge" as depicted, regardless of the formal power structure of the camp, especially over the prisoner soldiers themselves. It wasn't but a mere 20-30 years or so ago when the Japanese were practically literally all trying to emulate the British and the West in nearly everything (looking up to them as teachers etc.) and trying to get into the "cool kids club" of western powers. And truthfully, many in Japan still did in a whole lot of ways (see diaries of top Japanese commanders/admirals during WW2). And if they're working much better under the British commander then the Japanese guy doesn't care so long as they don't escape, as he wants his bridge and for them to not escape and be troublesome.

Your problems are your own.there is nothing wrong with this film!!!

Mon film - culte. 👏👏👏🌹

Really good book too. Not as good as the film but still pretty damn good.

A great movie with some of the very best actors and directors during the golden age of movie making. David Lean outdid himself with Lawrence of Arabia.

Sir Malcolm Arnold, my favorite composer, wrote the score and won the Oscar

Alec Guiness, the walk that won an academy award. One of the greatest endings in movie history. Next to The Good, The Bad And The Ugly. I will agree about Sito's give in character later in film story, but I see more a friendship bond forming instead of Sito should become more evil ruthless. It is touching actually. A nice opposite to the horror taking place. And gives more impact when everyone gets killed and "Guiness" finally realizes "What have I done?" Powerful human war storytelling.

What about Dr. Zhivago?

This is such a great movie

The lines of William Holden don't strike me as just conedic. Maybe you missing a major plot point here.

youre a god kino

Col. Nicolson working with his Japanese captors mimics and symbolizes PM Neville Chamberlain's Appeasement of Hitler in the 1930s.

Yeah...I enjoyed The Bridge on the River Kwai a lot but one of the most acclaimed movies ever? That’s a headscratcher. I adored Alec Guinness’ performance as a man of unshakeable integrity who nevertheless went from a hero to a villain because he was unable to rise above his ego and see the larger picture. But there were other parts which you point out can be WTF or cringe. However, I would say it is very, very unique in being both very morally complex but very stirring at the same time. Usually morally complex films leave you feeling a little dissolved and contemplative. This film was both morally complex and make you determined to do the right thing, not do the wrong thing very correctly.

seen on old style big cinema screen you were in the jungle. unfortunately reality could not be shown only myth .

WİLD....Amazıng

The key phrase you used is "in its time." As such, it's a highly enjoyable epic from the past, strictly a product of Hollywood at that time. with all the principals long gone, living on in celluloid. If made today it would be very different, including the acting, dialogue, etc. One thing you neglected to mention is the end, when Nicholson conveniently happens to collapse right on the detonator at just the right moment. Strictly Hollywood. People gave it a pass, but that ending wouldn't happen today, people are too sophisticated.

The film and the script is a complete load of bollocks. It was a truly inaccurate summary of the horrors endured by POW's building the Burma Railway. All POW's that I knew totally condemned the story, and regarded it as total fiction and an insult to their brutal captivity under the Japanese. The bridge depicted in the film was one built adjacent to Songkurai camp that was situated on the banks of a swift flowing river, the Huai Ro Khi. 😠

one of my favorite movies of all time!

Wrong at the start = it's a battalion, not a platoon of Brit soldiers. It's sick, not injured men persuaded to work by Nicholson.. It's called Colonel Bogey no March appellation at the end. The Jap code of honour does NOT parallel at all with that of Britain's. The Breakfast Club had zero tension and even for Yanks under 50, there are more appropriate parallels. This is a very prosaic review. Little of note here, except the easily obtainable info of the real "Colonel Nicholson".