The Bridge on the River Kwai

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957): starring William Holden, Jack Hawkins, Alec Guinness, Sessue Hayakawa, Directed by David Lean
"Sir, we're lost in the jungle, a thousand miles from anywhere, we're under the heel of a man who'll stop at nothing to get his way. Trust me, no one will ever know or care what happens to us". It's World War II and the Japanese are forcing P.O.W.'s to build a railroad bridge across a jungle river. American P.O.W. Commander Shears (William Holden) wants nothing more than to escape from this camp after burying so many dead soldiers' bodies, and is quite bemused when Col. Nicholson (Alec Guinness) comes into camp with his regiment, marching and whistling. Col. Saito, commander of the Japanese camp, is not so bemused however, and let's Nicholson know that everyone, including officers will be doing manual labor, in spite of the Geneva Convention. This doesn't set well with Col. Nicholson and the two are soon engaged in a test of wills. Saito needs Nicholson's help in completing the bridge, and at first tries threats, then torture and finally bribery, but Nicholson doesn't budge. Finally, Saito relents (after weeks of the men doing everything they can to sabotage the building of the bridge), and Nicholson is placed back in command of his troops. Curiously, Nicholson begins to build the bridge in earnest, partly to boost the troops morale, and partly to prove something to the Japanese about British tenacity. Meanwhile, Shears has escaped from the prison camp, only to be coerced into going back to that very same camp with a commando unit to blow up the bridge.

Bridge Over the River Kwai is a combination of great film technique and great performance (Alec Guinness in fact, delivers an Oscar-winning performance). It doesn't paint the enemy as all evil, in fact, it shows us war is the aberration and humanity is what is supposed to be normal. Col. Nicholson gets so wrapped up in the building of the bridge, he loses sight of why it's being built in the first place (just as those seeking to destroy it seem to forget who it is they're fighting for). The jungle setting only serves to emphasize the feeling that these characters are on the edge of losing their humanity. By the end, we feel the pain of Nicholson's dilemma and are rooting for him to do the right thing, even if we're not entirely sure what the right
***** out of *****