Bridge on the River Kwai, The (1957)

reviewed by
Karl Rackwitz


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The Bridge on the River Kwai
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(UK 1957)
German title: "Die Brücke am Kwai"

Directed by David Lean; Written by Michael Wilson, Carl Foreman, based on Pierre Boulle's novel; Cinematography by Jack Hildyard; Music by Malcolm Arnold; Edited by Peter Taylor; Produced by Sam Spiegel; With Alec Guinness, William Holden, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa, James Donald, Geoffrey Horne

***½ out of **** (VERY GOOD)

I want to correct what I wrote last year in my retrospective of David Lean's war picture.

I still think that "The Bridge on the River Kwai" doesn't deserve being the number 13 in the American Film Institute's list of the 100 greatest American movies. And I think that "12 Angry Men", "Witness for the Prosecution" and "Paths of Glory" would have been better choices for the Oscar for the Best Picture of 1957.

But I can't deny the importance of "The Bridge on the River Kwai" - cinematically and in its contents.

The film is set in Burma in 1943. A batallion of British soldiers in Japanese war captivity is forced by the Japanese to build a strategically momentous railway bridge over the River Kwai. But the British commanding officer, Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness), insists - corresponding to the Geneva Conventions - that his officers needn't work as simple workmen. Struggling toughly, Col. Nicholson forces the Japanese commandant, Col. Saito (Sessue Hayakawa), to give way in this respect. Afterwards Col. Nicholson assiduously commits himself for the building of the bridge. He considers it an opportunity to raise his men's morale, and he wants to prove superior British capabilities to the Japanese. But the British High Command sends a few soldiers who shall destroy the bridge, among them the American Shears (William Holden) - an escapee from the Japanese prison camp - and the British Major Warden (Jack Hawkins) ...

A flaw of the picture is the clichéd characterization of the Japanese people. They are presented as if they were intellectually inferior to the British - as if the Japanese were incapable of building a bridge.

And the film doesn't consistently question the military spirit as Kubrick does in "Paths of Glory". Lean seems rather fascinated by the military hierarchies. This is also perceptible in the conversations between Col. Nicholson and Col. Saito. In this regard it is symptomatic that Shears, who doubts the military logic, is presented as a somehow unpleasant person. The audience is supposed to applaud Col. Nicholson's perseverance concerning the question if his officers shall work on the bridge or not. The spectators are supposed to neglect the risks Col. Nicholson takes for his men. (The plot by-passes these risks.)

That means, the picture isn't perfect. But it has a lot of virtues as well.

"The Bridge on the River Kwai" shows the "madness" of war and what it can produce in people's minds. It shows how Colonel Nicholson becomes possessed by the idea of being a hero and that others (like Shears) get cynics. And Lean's film is an interesting study of characters with clashing interests. These points and the sometimes ironic dialogue make this film an anti-war film (despite inconsistencies in the treatment of this theme).

David Lean's direction is really effective and atmospherically perfect. His film is highly suspenseful, especially in its dramatic (if not wholly plausible) showdown. The film is also well-photographed and has an apt score.

Alec Guinness does a magnificent job of bringing Col. Nicholson to life and making him such an interesting character. The other actors deliver fine performances as well.

I like this extraordinary film despite its weaknesses.

(C) Karl Rackwitz (Klein Köris, Germany, 1999)


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