The Bridge on the River Kwai
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| The Bridge on the River Kwai | |
|---|---|
 Original film poster |
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| Directed by | David Lean |
| Produced by | Sam Spiegel |
| Written by | Pierre Boulle (novel) Carl Foreman & Michael Wilson (screenplay) |
| Starring | Alec Guinness Sessue Hayakawa William Holden Jack Hawkins Geoffrey Horne |
| Music by | Malcolm Arnold |
| Cinematography | Jack Hildyard, BSC |
| Editing by | Peter Taylor |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | United Kingdom: October 2, 1957 United States: December 18, 1957 (NYC premiere) |
| Running time | 161 min. |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | US$3,000,000 (est) |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Bridge on the River Kwai is a 1957 World War II film based on the novel Le Pont de la Rivière Kwaï by French writer Pierre Boulle. The film is a work of fiction but borrows the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942-43 for its historical setting. It was directed by David Lean and stars Alec Guinness, Sessue Hayakawa, Jack Hawkins and William Holden.
In 1997, this film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected for preservation in the United States Library of Congress National Film Registry.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
Two prisoners of war are burying a corpse in the graveyard of a Japanese World War II prison camp in southern Burma. One, American Navy Commander Shears (William Holden), routinely bribes guards to ensure he gets sick duty, which allows him to avoid hard labour. A large contingent of British prisoners arrives, marching in defiantly whistling the Colonel Bogey March under the leadership of Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness).
The Japanese camp commander, Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa), addresses them, informing them of his rules. He insists that all prisoners, regardless of rank, will work on the construction of a bridge over the Kwai River as part of a railroad that will link all Burma.
The next morning, when Saito orders everyone to work, Nicholson commands his officers to stand fast. He points out that the Geneva Conventions state that captured officers are exempt from manual labour. Saito is infuriated and backhands Nicholson in the face, but the latter refuses to back down, even after Saito has a machine gun set up threatening to shoot all the officers. Saito is dissuaded from shooting by Major Clipton (James Donald), a British medical officer also a prisoner, citing an inquiry and scandal should Saito carry through with the murder of officers; instead, the Japanese commander leaves Nicholson and his officers standing in the intense heat. As the day wears on, one of them collapses, but Nicholson and the rest are still standing defiantly at attention when the men return from the day's work. After Colonel Nicholson is beaten in Saito's quarters, the British officers are sent into a punishment cage and Nicholson into his own box for solitary confinement.
When Clipton requests to be allowed to check the officers, Saito agrees on the condition that Clipton persuade Nicholson to change his mind. Nicholson, however, refuses to budge, saying "if we give in now there'll be no end to it." In the meantime, construction of the railroad bridge falls far behind schedule, due in part to many "accidents" purposely arranged by the British prisoners.
Saito has a deadline; if he should fail to meet it, it would bring him great shame and oblige him to commit seppuku (ritual suicide). So Saito reluctantly releases Nicholson, telling him that he has proclaimed an "amnesty" to commemorate the anniversary of Japan's great victory in the Russo-Japanese War, using it as an excuse to exempt the officers from work. Upon their release, Nicholson and his officers proudly walk through a jubilant reception. Saito for his part breaks down in tears in private.
Having recovered from his ordeal physically, but not mentally broken, Nicholson sets off on an inspection of the bridge and is shocked to find disorganization, shirking and outright sabotage on the construction site. He decides to build a better bridge than the Japanese soldiers. He orders Captain Reeves (Peter Williams) and Major Hughes (John Boxer) to come up with designs for a proper bridge, despite its military value to the Japanese. He wants to demonstrate to his captors what he considers superior British ingenuity and to also keep his men busy, which he feels would be better for morale than sitting around doing nothing in prison.
Meanwhile, three men, one of them the American Shears, attempt to escape. Two are killed; Shears is shot, falls into the river and is swept downstream. After many days in the jungle, he stumbles into a Siamese village, whose residents help him get back to safety. Shears is shipped to a British hospital in Colombo (modern Sri Lanka; at the time, Ceylon). While recuperating, he dallies with a lovely nurse.
Major Warden (Jack Hawkins), a member of the British Special Forces, asks to speak with him. He informs Shears that he is leading a small group of commandos on a mission to destroy the Kwai bridge. He asks Shears to volunteer, since he knows the area. Shears refuses, finally admitting that he is not Commander Shears at all, but a Navy enlisted man. Shears recounts that he and a Navy Commander survived the sinking of their ship, but the Commander was subsequently killed by a Japanese patrol. "Shears" switched dog tags with the dead officer, hoping to get preferential treatment in captivity. It didn't work, but he then had no choice but to continue the impersonation. Warden tells him that they already knew this. To avoid bad publicity, the U.S. Navy is only too happy to loan him to the British. Warden offers him a deal: in exchange for his services, he will be given the "simulated rank" of major on the mission and avoid being charged with impersonating an officer, an offense punishable by death, so Shears reluctantly "volunteers" with the understanding that should he survive, he'll get to keep his officer status. They are to be joined by Lieutenant Joyce (Geoffrey Horne), a young eager officer with no combat experience who insists that he won't fold under pressure should he have to kill someone on the mission, and a fourth officer.
Back in the camp, Clipton watches in bewilderment as Nicholson maniacally drives his men to complete the project by the deadline. Ironically, he even volunteers his junior officers to assist with the physical labor, something he had refused to consider earlier in the standoff with Saito - provided that the Japanese officers are willing to pitch in as well. As the Japanese engineers had chosen a poor site, the original bridge is abandoned and construction of a whole new bridge is commenced 400 yards downriver.
Meanwhile, the commandos parachute in. The fourth officer dies due to a bad landing. The rest make their way to the river, assisted by native Burmese women porters and their village chief, Yai (M.R.B. Chakrabandhu). The commandos come upon a Japanese patrol whom they try to kill without firing shots, but Joyce freezes when confronted by one in the jungle causing Warden to jump in front of him and kill the Japanese soldier. Warden gets shot in the foot as a consequence. This slows him down but Shears refuses to leave him behind and the trio make their way to the bridge with the Burmese helpers.
As the prison camp celebrates the completion of the bridge on time with a party for all, Shears and Joyce wire explosives to it under cover of darkness. The next day, a Japanese train full of soldiers and important officials is scheduled to be the first to use the bridge; Warden wants to blow it up just as the train passes over, accomplishing two missions at one time.
As dawn approaches, the trio notice with horror that the river has receded and the wires and explosives that were hidden the night before are now exposed. Nicholson proudly walks up and down his bridge, making a final inspection and notices the wires. The train can be heard approaching. Nicholson and Saito frantically hurry down to the riverbank, pulling up and following the wire towards Joyce who is waiting by the detonator. When they get too close, Joyce breaks cover and stabs Saito to death. Nicholson yells for help and then tries to stop Joyce (who cannot bring himself to kill Nicholson) from getting to the detonator. A firefight erupts as Warden fires upon the approaching Japanese soldiers; Yai is killed in the gunfight. When Joyce is hit, Shears swims across the river to finish the job, but he too is shot just before he reaches Nicholson.
Recognizing Shears, Nicholson suddenly comes to his senses and exclaims, "What have I done?" Warden desperately turns the mortar fire in their direction, killing Shears in the blast and mortally wounding Nicholson. The colonel stumbles over to the detonator plunger and falls on it with his dying breath, just in time to blow up the bridge and send the train hurtling into the river. (A full-sized bridge and a real train were used, probably the first time this had been done without model shots since 1952's The Big Trees. Buster Keaton's The General included an almost identical scene.)
Warden, feeling guilty for killing Shears and Nicholson because of the shocked stares of the Burmese women, pleads, "I had to do it! They might have been taken alive! It was the only thing to do!" Meanwhile, Major Clipton, the British medical officer who has witnessed all the carnage unfold from his vantage point on the hill utters one of the most memorable last lines in the history of motion pictures as he shakes his head incredulously, "Madness! ... Madness!".
[edit] Historical accuracy
The largely fictitious film plot is based on the building in 1943 of one of the railway bridges over the Mae Klong - renamed Khwae Yai in the 1960s - at a place called Tha Makham, five kilometres from the Thai town of Kanchanaburi. This was part of a project to link existing Thai and Burmese railway lines to create a route from Bangkok, Thailand to Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar) to support the Japanese occupation of Burma. About a hundred thousand conscripted Asian labourers and 12,000 prisoners of war died on the whole project.[1][2]
Although the suffering caused by the building of the Burma Railway and its bridges is true, the incidents portrayed in the film are mostly fictional. Historically the conditions were much worse. The real senior Allied officer at the bridge was Lieutenant Colonel Philip Toosey. Some consider the film to be an insulting parody of Toosey.[2] On a BBC Timewatch programme, a former prisoner at the camp states that it is unlikely that a man like the fictional Nicholson could have risen to the rank of lieutenant colonel; and if he had, he would have been "quietly eliminated" by the other prisoners. Julie Summers, in her book The Colonel of Tamarkan, writes that Pierre Boulle, who had been a prisoner of war in Thailand, created the fictional Nicholson character as an amalgam of his memories of collaborating French officers.[2]
Toosey was very different from Nicholson and was certainly not a collaborator who felt obliged to work with the Japanese. Toosey in fact did as much to delay the building of the bridge as possible. Whereas Nicholson disapproves of acts of sabotage and other deliberate attempts to delay progress, Toosey encouraged this: white ants were collected in large numbers to eat the wooden structures, and the concrete was badly mixed.[1][2]
Some of the characters in the film have the names of real people who were involved in the Burma Railway. Neither their roles nor their characters appear to be portrayed accurately. For example, historically a Sergeant-Major Saito was second in command at the camp. In the film a colonel of the same name is camp commandant. In reality, Saito was respected by his prisoners for being comparatively merciful and fair towards them; Toosey later defended him in his war crimes trial after the war, and the two became friends.
The destruction of the bridge as depicted in the film is entirely fictional. In fact, two bridges were built: a temporary wooden bridge and a permanent steel and concrete bridge a few months later. Both bridges were used for two years, until they were destroyed by Allied aerial bombing. The steel bridge was repaired and is still in use today.
[edit] Production
[edit] Screenplay
The screenwriters, Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson, were on the Hollywood blacklist and could only work on the film in secret. The two did not collaborate on the script, but Wilson took over after Lean was dissatisfied with Foreman's work. The official credit was given to Pierre Boulle (who did not speak English), and the resulting Oscar was awarded to him. Only in 1984 did the Academy rectify the situation by retroactively awarding the Oscar to Foreman and Wilson, posthumously in both cases. At about the same time, a new release of the film finally gave them proper screen credit.
Reportedly, Sessue Hayakawa edited his copy of the script so that it only contained his own lines of dialogue; thus, he did not know that his character was to be killed off at the end of the film.[citation needed]
The film was relatively faithful to the original novel, with two major exceptions: the character of Shears, who was a British commando officer like Warden in the book, becomes an American sailor who escaped from the POW camp; and the climax. In the original book, the bridge isn't destroyed, and Warden kills Nicholson and all of his fellow commandos; in the film, of course, the bridge is destroyed, and Warden only kills Nicholson.
[edit] Filming
Many directors were considered for the project, among them John Ford, William Wyler, Howard Hawks, Fred Zinnemann, and Orson Welles. Producer Sam Spiegel later said that David Lean, then virtually unknown outside of the United Kingdom, was chosen "in absence of anyone else."[citation needed]
David Lean clashed with his cast members on multiple occasions, particularly Alec Guinness and James Donald, who thought the novel was anti-British. Lean had a lengthy row with Guinness over how to play the role of Nicholson; Guinness wanted to play the part with a sense of humor and sympathy, while Lean thought Nicholson should be "a bore". On another occasion, Lean and Guinness argued over the scene where Nicholson reflects on his career in the army. Lean filmed the scene from behind Guinness, and exploded in anger when Guinness asked him why he was doing this. After Guinness was done with the scene, Lean said "Now you can all fuck off and go home, you English actors. Thank God that I'm starting work tomorrow with an American actor (William Holden)". (Piers Paul Read, Alec Guinness, 293)
Alec Guinness later said that he subconsciously based his walk while emerging from "the Oven" on that of his son Matthew when he was recovering from polio. He called his walk from the Oven to Saito's hut while being saluted by his men the "finest work I'd ever done".
Lean nearly drowned when he was swept away by a river current during a break from filming; Geoffrey Horne saved his life.[citation needed]
The film was an international co-production between companies in the UK and the United States. It is set in Burma, but was filmed mostly near Kitulgala, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), with a few scenes shot in England.
The filming of the bridge explosion was to be done on March 10, 1957, in the presence of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, then Prime Minister of Ceylon, and a team of government dignitaries. However, cameraman Freddy Ford was unable to get out of the way of the explosion in time, and Lean had to stop filming. The train crashed into a generator on the other side of the bridge and was wrecked. It was repaired in time to be blown up the next morning, with Bandaranaike and his entourage present.[citation needed]
According to Turner Classic Movies, the producers nearly suffered a catastrophe following the filming of the bridge explosion. To ensure they captured the one-time event, multiple cameras from several angles were used. The film was shipped to London by air freight for processing. When the shipment failed to arrive, a world-wide search for the film was undertaken. To the producers' horror the film containers were found a week later on an airport tarmac in Cairo, sitting in the broiling Egyptian sun. Though it was not exposed to sunlight, the heat-sensitive color film stock should have been hopelessly ruined. However, when processed the shots were perfect and appeared in the film.
[edit] Music
A memorable feature of the film is the tune that is whistled by the POWs — the Colonel Bogey March when they enter the camp. The piece was originally written in 1914 by Kenneth Alford. It was accompanied by a counter melody composed by Malcolm Arnold (known as The River Kwai March) played by the off-screen orchestra taking over from the whistlers. Mitch Miller had a hit with a recording of both marches. Arnold won an Academy Award for its score.
Besides serving as an example of British fortitude and dignity in the face of privation, the Colonel Bogey March suggested a specific symbol of defiance to British film-goers as it associated the melody with a vulgar verse about Hitler, the leader of Nazi Germany and Japan's principal ally during the war. Although the mocking lyrics were not used in the film, British audience members of the time knew them well enough to mentally sing along when the tune was heard.
The soundtrack of the film is largely diegetic; background music is not widely used. In many tense, dramatic scenes, only the sounds of nature are used. An example of this is when commandos Warden and Joyce hunt a fleeing Japanese soldier through the jungle, desperate to prevent him from alerting other troops.
[edit] Cast
- William Holden as US Navy Commander Shears. The screenplay was written with Humphrey Bogart in mind for the role of Shears, but Columbia Studios head Harry Cohn refused to allow Bogart out of another project.
- Alec Guinness as Lieutenant Colonel Nicholson. Contrary to popular belief, Guinness was Spiegel's first choice for the role (if not David Lean's), but he initially turned it down because he disliked the part and thought Boulle's novel was anti-British. Charles Laughton, James Mason, Ralph Richardson, Norman Wooland, Noel Coward, and Anthony Quayle were all approached. Even Cary Grant was briefly considered to star as Colonel Nicholson, but his flop in a serious role in Crisis (1950 film) concerned the producer, Sam Spiegel, so Grant was refused. Guinness changed his mind largely due to his friend Jack Hawkins, who had been cast as Major Warden.[citation needed]
- Jack Hawkins as Major Warden, a British commando officer.
- Sessue Hayakawa as Colonel Saito, the prison camp commander.
- James Donald as Major Clipton, the medical officer.
- Geoffrey Horne as Lieutenant Joyce.
- André Morell as Colonel Green.
- Peter Williams as Captain Reeves.
- John Boxer as Major Hughes.
- Percy Herbert as Private Grogan. It was reportedly Herbert who suggested to Lean the use of the Colonel Bogey March on the soundtrack.
- Harold Goodwin as Private Baker.
- Ann Sears as the nurse at the hospital in Ceylon where Shears recuperates.
- Heihachiro Okawa as Captain Kanematsu.
- Keiichiro Katsumoto as Lieutenant Miura.
- M.R.B. Chakrabandhu as Yai.
[edit] Awards
[edit] Academy Awards
(* - Honored posthumously in 1984, see above.)
[edit] Other awards
- BAFTA Award for Best Film
- Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama
- New York Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Film
- Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (David Lean, Assistants: Gus Agosti & Ted Sturgis)
- Golden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion Picture (David Lean)
- New York Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Director (David Lean)
- Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama (Alec Guinness)
- New York Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Actor (Alec Guinness)
[edit] Other nominations
- Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture (Sessue Hayakawa)
- Grammy Award for Best Soundtrack Album, Dramatic Picture Score or Original Cast (Malcolm Arnold)
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Around the World in Eighty Days |
Academy Award for Best Picture 1957 |
Succeeded by Gigi |
| Preceded by Gervaise |
BAFTA Award for Best Film from any Source 1958 |
Succeeded by Room at the Top |
| Preceded by Reach for the Sky |
BAFTA Award for Best British Film 1958 |
Succeeded by Room at the Top |
[edit] Recognition
- The film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
- It was ranked #13 in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies.
- It was ranked #14 in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers.
- It was ranked #58 in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills.
[edit] Mistakes
There are some prints of the film in which Alec Guinness' name is misspelled "Guiness" in the credits.
In all the early prints Guinness' name was misspelled in the opening credits but correctly spelled in the closing credits. This was finally corrected when Columbia issued an anniversary video of the film with the blacklisted writers (Michael Wilson and Carl Foreman) credited in place of novelist Pierre Boulle for the Academy Award-winning screenplay.
[edit] Parody
In 1962 Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers, with Peter Cook and Jonathan Miller released the LP record 'Bridge On The River Wye' (Parlophone LP PMC 1190,PCS 3036 (November 1962)) This spoof of the film was based on the script for the 1957 Goon Show episode 'An African Incident'. Shortly before its release, for legal reasons, producer George Martin edited out the 'K' every time the word 'Kwai' was spoken.
The comedy team of Wayne and Shuster performed a sketch titled "Kwai Me a River" on their March 27, 1967 TV show,[3] in which an officer in the British Dental Corps is captured by the Japanese and forced to build the commander of the POW camp a (dental) 'bridge on the river Kwai'.
[edit] See also
Peter Sellers' hit film The Mouse That Roared also parodied the sequence of Col. Nicholson's refusal to eat and drink food when held captive.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Davies, Peter (1991). The Man Behind the Bridge. Continuum International Publishing Group. 0-485-11402-X.
- ^ a b c d Summer, Julie (2005). The Colonel of Tamarkan. Simon & Schuster Ltd. 0-7432-6350-2.
- ^ Wayne and Shuster Show, The Episode Guide (1954-1990) (series). tvarchive.ca. Retrieved on 2007-11-03.
[edit] External links
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