Review: The Bridge on the River Kwai

A bunch of British WWII POWs under the command of Col. Nicholson (Sir Alec Guinness) enter a prison camp overseen by the rigid Japanese Col. Saito (Sessue Hayakawa), who expects all prisoners to help construct the title bridge. The equally rigid Col. Nicholson, however, informs Col. Saito that he will not allow his officers to do so. Thus a battle of wills ensues, though one side has a ‘hot box’. So there’s that. Nicholson, by the way, refuses to let his men plan any escapes, because his superiors have ordered that they surrender. Shaking their heads at all this are British medical officer Maj. Clipton (James Donald) and a cynical American POW Shears (William Shears). Shears actually manages to escape, and the second half of the film has him and a British Major (played by Jack Hawkins) plan on blowing the bridge up once completed.

 

Although not without flaw, this 1957 David Lean (“Oliver Twist”, “Lawrence of Arabia”, “A Passage to India”) WWII film is one of the best on the subject of the madness of war. ‘Madness’ isn’t just a moment of dialogue spoken in this film by James Donald, it’s a description of pretty much everything that goes on in the film. War is made to seem pointless, and both sides made to seem petty and arrogant at times, and do some pretty crazy things. It’s actually pretty ballsy for a film from the 1950s, because neither Sir Alec Guinness’ Col. Nicholson nor the Japanese Col. Saito (Sessue Hayakawa) come out of this looking stellar. Col. Saito, although seemingly winning the psychological battle over his naïve British counterpart, is a violent and brutal man. Col. Nicholson is well-meaning, but his decision to help the Japanese build a bridge on the River Kwai is indeed ‘madness’. I mean, not only are they the ‘enemy’, but Col. Saito has been punishing Col. Nicholson already for not allowing any of his officers engage in manual labour. Why give in to the ‘enemy’? And don’t even get me started on his pig-headed, rigid application of his orders to not escape from prison camp, as his higher-ups ordered him to surrender. Everyone knows POWs are duty-bound to escape and generally make things impossible for the enemy. But orders are orders, and Col. Nicholson won’t let his men orchestrate any escape plans whatsoever. Col. Saito, of course is also acting on orders from above, so you can see where this is going to go. Nowhere. Madness. You could argue that Col. Nicholson (determined to prove British superiority…even in bridge construction!) and Col. Saito are essentially two big swinging dicks, like many commanders in war, with James Donald the cool-headed observer who witnesses the ‘madness’.

 

There have been better POW films (“The Great Escape” and “King Rat” spring to mind), but I can’t think of any that depicted the harsh, arduous life for POWs than this one. There is no doubt that David Lean is a helluva filmmaker when it comes to these epic-length films. In terms of epic visuals and scope (or should that be CinemaScope in this case?), I don’t think he has ever been equalled. The Oscar-winning B&W cinematography by Jack Hildyard (“The Sundowners”, “Hobson’s Choice”, “Topaz”), and the inimitable Malcolm Arnold (“Hobson’s Choice”, “Inn of the Sixth Happiness”) music score are immediate grabbers, the latter (also an Oscar-winner) of course implementing the infamous (and infamously inspiring dirty derivations we all learned in the schoolyard, right?) ‘Colonel Bogey March’. It’s probably one of the finest music scores of all-time.

 

However, it’s Sir Alec Guinness you’ll most remember here, as the hopelessly naïve Colonel who has no idea who he’s dealing with. Does he really think Col. Saito gives a crap about following Geneva convention protocol? To the hot box with you! Sure, Nicholson it could be argued wins the battle of wills in the end, but look at how he turns out? Whether he intended it or not, I’d say Col. Saito gets to Nicholson towards the end, at least temporarily. Guinness has never given a bad performance that I’ve seen (I’ll even defend his portrayal of an Indian in “A Passage to India”, even if casting an actual Indian person would’ve been better), and this stiff upper-lip job is clearly one of his best, earning him a Best Actor Oscar. Watching him get broken down slowly bit by bit to the point where he basically loses rational thought is really quite harrowing. Oscar-nominee Sessue Hayakawa isn’t the greatest speaker of the English language, but is still really effective as a guy who clearly has his orders, but is unquestionably brutal and harsh. There’s at least a bit of nuance there, though, which is appreciated. I mean, this is a guy who, if he doesn’t follow orders and get the bridge completed in time, will need to commit hari-kari. Ouch. James Donald, a most underrated character actor is absolutely terrific as the humane medical officer, perhaps the coolest head in the entire film, pretty much rolling his eyes at the two big swinging dicks and the craziness of it all. Personally, I think it’s disgraceful that William Holden and Jack Hawkins are listed ahead of Guinness in the credits. Hawkins doesn’t even enter the film until after an hour and fourteen minutes. There’s nothing particularly wrong with the scenes featuring Holden and Hawkins away from the prison camp, but there’s no doubt that the second half is less interesting than the first half. Yes these scenes have bearing on the plot and Holden has a nice line in cynicism, but I honestly think Lean devotes too much time to this side mission. Dare I suggest the film could’ve stood to be leaner?

 

A well-staged, well-acted and intelligent war film, but clearly an overlong one. The William Holden scenes occupy too much screen time, and the film although good, is ultimately not great. It does however, contain great elements and is absolutely a must-see at least once in your life, if not more. The screenplay is by blacklisted Michael Wilson (“A Place in the Sun”, “Lawrence of Arabia”, “Planet of the Apes”) and Carl Foreman (“The Men”, “High Noon”, “Smiley Gets a Gun”), who because of their blacklisting were not handed the Oscar. Instead it was given to the author of the novel, Frenchman Pierre Boulle (author of the book “Planet of the Apes” was based on), who obviously had minimal involvement. Sadly, by the time the situation was rectified retrospectively in 1984, Wilson was dead, and Foreman passed the day after the announcement was made. 

 

Rating: B