/ Modified nov 4, 2020 10:52 a.m.

Bridge on the River Kwai

A British POW colonel orders his men to build their Japanese captor a railway bridge in the jungle.

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Plot Summary
Continuing the anti-war sentiment, in a more poignant and less humorful vein, this story takes place in the jungles of Burma in a Japanese prison camp where Allied prisoners are made to build a railroad bridge while feeding the ego of the brutal, insecure and incompetent colonel. They are starved and tortured, and die at an alarming rate of tropical diseases and exhaustion. Indeed the movie opens with an American and a British soldier burying the latest casualties. Enter a disciplined unit of British soldiers under Alec Guinness, who is so committed to the military ethos, and to doing his best, that he simply cannot see the surrounding chaos and silliness. He is punished, but carries on.

There is a personal story in the conflict between the British commander and the Japanese one, almost unrelated to any war, and almost by extension we are afforded personal glimpses into Commander Shears and a couple of others as well. Almost as though the war is an aberration among life’s challenges. The Japanese colonel is outmaneuvered; the bridge is built; the doctor tries to impose a little reason. Our American hero even escapes to safety. For a minute. Then the absurdity of war prevails. Rather than spoil the plot, I will challenge you to imagine the ending, then watch and see how close you came. While dusting off concepts of courage and honor and comradeship and patriotism.

Commentary by by Cicely d’Autremont

Quotes
Col. Saito: "I hate the British! You are defeated but you have no shame. You are stubborn but you have no pride. You endure but you have no courage. I hate the British!
That’s a new one."

Lt. Joyce: "I’m terribly sorry, Sir. I thought you were the enemy."
Commander Shears: "Well, I am an American, if that’s what you mean."

Col. Saito: "A word bout escape. There is no barbed wire. No Stockade. No watchtower. They are not necessary. We are an island in the jungle. Escape is impossible. You would die."

Major Clipton: "Madness! Madness!"

Trivia
During filming David Lean was swept down river and almost drowned. Geoffrey Horne saved his life.

The elephants working on the film would take time out to splash in the water every few hours, whether the timing suited the crew, or not.

The song being whistled by Col. Nicholson’s unit is a takeoff of the “Col. Bogey March” called “Hitler Has Only Got One Ball,” which producer Sam Spiegel deemed too vulgar to sing. Hence the whistling.

Alec Guinness had doubts about his own performance, so David Lean invited him to watch dailies one evening. After the showing, Guinness, his wife, and his son just left, offering no opinion. Alec Guinness called David Lean later that night to say he and his family considered this the best performance of his career.

Sources
Wikipedia
IMDb
Roger Ebert, review in The Chicago Sun Times, April 18, 1999
Rotten Tomatoes

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