The story centers on a Japanese prison camp isolated deep in the jungles of Southeast Asia, where the remorseless Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa) has been charged with building a vitally important railway bridge. His clash of wills with a British prisoner, the charismatic Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness), escalates into a duel of honor, Nicholson defying his captor's demands to win concessions for his troops. How the two officers reach a compromise, and Nicholson becomes obsessed with building that bridge, provides the story's thematic spine; the parallel movement of a team of commandos dispatched to stop the project, led by a British major (Jack Hawkins) and guided by an American escapee (William Holden), supplies the story's suspense and forward momentum.

Shot on location in Sri Lanka, Kwai moves with a careful, even deliberate pace that survivors of latter-day, high-concept blockbusters might find lulling--Lean doesn't pander to attention deficit disorders with an explosion every 15 minutes. Instead, he guides us toward the intersection of the two plots, accruing remarkable character details through extraordinary performances. Hayakawa's cruel camp commander is gradually revealed as a victim of his own sense of honor, Holden's callow opportunist proves heroic without softening his nihilistic edge, and Guinness (who won a Best Actor Oscar, one of the production's seven wins) disappears as only he can into Nicholson's brittle, duty-driven, delusional psychosis. His final glimpse of self-knowledge remains an astonishing moment--story, character, and image coalescing with explosive impact.

Like Lean's Lawrence of Arabia, The Bridge on the River Kwai has been beautifully restored and released in a highly recommended widescreen version that preserves its original aspect ratio. --Sam Sutherland

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Director David Lean's masterful 1957 realization of Pierre Boulle's novel remains a benchmark for war films, and a deeply absorbing movie by any standard--like most of Lean's canon, The Bridge on the River Kwai achieves a richness in theme, narrative, and characterization that transcends genre.

The story centers on a Japanese prison camp isolated deep in the jungles of Southeast Asia, where the remorseless Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa) has been charged with building a vitally important railway bridge. His clash of wills with a British prisoner, the charismatic Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness), escalates into a duel of honor, Nicholson defying his captor's demands to win concessions for his troops. How the two officers reach a compromise, and Nicholson becomes obsessed with building that bridge, provides the story's thematic spine; the parallel movement of a team of commandos dispatched to stop the project, led by a British major (Jack Hawkins) and guided by an American escapee (William Holden), supplies the story's suspense and forward momentum.

Shot on location in Sri Lanka, Kwai moves with a careful, even deliberate pace that survivors of latter-day, high-concept blockbusters might find lulling--Lean doesn't pander to attention deficit disorders with an explosion every 15 minutes. Instead, he guides us toward the intersection of the two plots, accruing remarkable character details through extraordinary performances. Hayakawa's cruel camp commander is gradually revealed as a victim of his own sense of honor, Holden's callow opportunist proves heroic without softening his nihilistic edge, and Guinness (who won a Best Actor Oscar, one of the production's seven wins) disappears as only he can into Nicholson's brittle, duty-driven, delusional psychosis. His final glimpse of self-knowledge remains an astonishing moment--story, character, and image coalescing with explosive impact.

Like Lean's Lawrence of Arabia, The Bridge on the River Kwai has been beautifully restored and released in a highly recommended widescreen version that preserves its original aspect ratio. --Sam Sutherland

Stills from The Bridge on the River Kwai (click for larger image)

Beyond The Bridge on the River Kwai

The David Lean Collection

WWII 60th Anniversary Collection

The True Story of the Bridge on the River Kwai (History Channel)

The remarkable novel by Pierre Boulle (also author of "Monkey Planet"...filmed as the memorable "Planet of the Apes") is masterfully brought to the screen by director David Lean, a true genius behind many historical epics.

Deep inside snake ridden Asian jungles, British and American prisoners of war toil under the sweltering tropical sun working on part of the infamous Burma railway that claimed thousands of Allied lives during WWII. Colonel Saito (talented Japanese actor Sessue Hayakawa) presides over his POW camp with an iron rule...driving his Japanese troops as hard as his malnourished prisoners. Enter the honorable and steadfast English POW, Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guiness in an Oscar winning performance) refusing to capitulate to Saito's demands that British officers perform manual labour alongside enlisted men. Each man's blind adherance to their own personal code of honor sees the two men plunge into a psychological war of will, bravado and courage...each determined not to waver from their personal beliefs.

As these two leaders clash with each other, American prisoner of war and resident camp gravedigger, Shears (William Holden) effects on escape from the brutal prison camp and after nearing death, he makes his way back to the Allied forces. Unfortunately for the timid Shears, he is coerced to guide a suicidal commando mission with Major Warden (Jack Hawkins) and Lieutenant Joyce (Geoffrey Horne) to return to the enemy infested jungles and blow up the railway bridge being built by Nicholson and the British prisoners of war.

Each differing path taken by Nicholson, Saito & Shears eventually intertwines and ultimately sees the three men confront their own inner fears and beliefs with tragic circumstances....

Seven Oscars bear testament to the wonderful attributes of this movie....including Best Picture and Best Actor...plus "Kwai" is regularly listed by critics as one of the most influential and highly regarded movies of the 20th century. For some additional in-depth behind the scenes reading on "The Bridge on the River Kwai" check out the insightful William Holden biograpy entitled "Golden Boy". Excellent reading !!

Quite simply an absolute "must have" addition to any DVD collection, "The Bridge on the River Kwai" remains a benchmark in inspirational movie making....I cannot recommend this film highly enough !!


A tense, Exciting, And Dramatic Spectacular of WWII!   August 7, 2000
 31 out of 33 found this review helpful

No one was a more masterful film maker than was David Lean, the British director who brought us such unforgettable classics as "Lawrence of Arabia", "Doctor Zhivago", "Ryan's Daughter" and, of course, "Bridge Over the River Kwai", (see my reviews of all these films). The cinematography in all of Lean's films is always spectacular and breathtaking, for Lean had a special appreciation for how the nature of one's natural surroundings set the stage and influenced the dramatic proceedings. Lean characteristically focused his films on the ways in which individuals and their personal characteristics clash and meld with the larger social, cultural, and historical surround in which they are located, and so each film is a uniquely captivating study of the specific dynamics of each particular individual situation.

Each of these films is also a well-choreographed and photographed excursion into the topography, climate, and landscape of the geographic location in which the drama unfolds. The eyes and ears are always delighted by what Lean displays. In "Bridge Over The River Kwai", the first of these spectacular films to be produced by Lean, the wildness and danger of the surrounding jungle is used as an active metaphor by Lean which he uses to bind the British prisoners into a life and death struggle with the despotic camp commander, whose feudal philosophy leads him to view the prisoners as shameful cowards who do not deserve to be treated like human beings. Their curiously naive and self-important commanding officer, played brilliantly by Sir Alec Guiness, immediately becomes embroiled in a power struggle with the Japanese commander that sets the plot churning into overdrive, speeding the story along toward further confrontations and a number of interesting plot twist.

Also excellent as a cynical American sailor landlocked in the camp is William Holden, who plays the part with such blithe and careless detachment it is hard to appreciate how good he is, unless you are familiar with his performance in other films such as "The Bridges At Toko-Ri" or "Network". The supporting cast is excellent, and the script, written by the novelist who penned the original book, is taut, lean, and full of memorable dialogue and terrific dramatics. The action unfolds as part of the larger context of the war itself, which provides the necessary impetus to explain the desperate, cruel, and courageous behavior of the characters. The cinematography here is absolutely breath-taking, and the many spectacular action sequences and memorable musical score all contribute to make this one of the most popular and memorable films of all time. By the way, the film has aged very well, and as a piece of history and as a piece of popular entertainment it is always a pleasure to view as one of the outstanding films of the 1950s.