The Bridge on the River Kwai is a 1957 epic war film directed by David Lean and based on the novel The Bridge over the River Kwai, written by Pierre Boulle. Boulle's novel and the film's screenplay are fictional; they use the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942–1943 as historical setting."Remembering the railway: The Bridge on the River Kwai , www.hellfire-pass.commemoration.gov.au. Retrieved 24 September 2015. It stars William Holden, Alec Guinness, and Jack Hawkins, with Sessue Hayakawa, James Donald, Ann Sears, and Geoffrey Horne in supporting roles.
The film was initially scripted by screenwriter Carl Foreman, who was replaced by Michael Wilson. Both writers had to work in secret since they were on the Hollywood blacklist and had fled to the UK to continue working. As a result, Boulle, who did not speak English, was credited and received the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay; many years later, Foreman and Wilson posthumously received the Academy Award.
The Bridge on the River Kwai is considered as one of the greatest films of the 1950s. It was the highest-grossing film of 1957 and received positive reviews from critics. The film won seven Academy Awards (including Best Picture) at the 30th Academy Awards. In 1997, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the United States Library of Congress. It has been included on the American Film Institute's list of best American films ever made.On the AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies lists, in 1998 (#13) and 2007 (#36) In 1999, the British Film Institute voted The Bridge on the River Kwai the 11th greatest British film of the 20th century.
Plot In February 1943, a contingent of British prisoners of war, led by Lt. Colonel Nicholson, arrive at a Japanese prison camp in Thailand. United States Navy Commander Shears describes the horrific conditions to Nicholson, who forbids any escape attempts because they had been ordered to surrender by their own headquarters.
Colonel Saito, the camp commandant, informs the prisoners the camp needs no fences because the surrounding jungle makes escape impossible, and that they will be used as labor to construct a bridge over the River Kwai for the railway connecting Thailand and Burma. Nicholson objects, citing the Geneva Convention exempting officers from manual labor. Saito threatens to have the officers shot, but Major Clipton, the British medical officer, warns him there are too many witnesses. The officers are left standing in the intense heat until evening when Saito confines them to a punishment hut. Nicholson is beaten and locked in a metal box. Shears becomes the only survivor of an escape attempt and recuperates in British Ceylon after being tended to by Thai civilians.
British sabotage and deliberately slow work impedes bridge construction, made worse by incompetent Japanese engineering. When Nicholson is released from confinement, he is shocked by the poor job his men have done and orders the construction of a proper bridge that he feels will be a lasting tribute to the British Army's superiority. Clipton unsuccessfully argues that would be collaboration with the enemy. Even though Saito had given in to his principled stand and excused the British officers from manual labor, Nicholson volunteers them to join in the physical work.
Shears' comfortable life in Ceylon is shaken up when Major Warden tries to recruit him for a commando mission to destroy the bridge. Shears reveals he impersonated an officer to get better treatment in the camp, but Warden already knew of his deception and arranged his attachment to the British military, forcing him to participate. Warden, Shears, Chapman and Joyce parachute into Thailand. Chapman dies on landing, and Warden is wounded in an encounter with a Japanese patrol. Khun Yai, a village chief, and a group of Thai women guide the trio to the river. Under cover of darkness, Shears, Yai and Joyce plant explosives at the base of the bridge towers and plan to destroy it as the first train crosses, scheduled for the next morning.
Sunrise reveals the river level has dropped, exposing the wire leading to the detonator. Nicholson spots the wire, and he and Saito investigate as the train approaches. Nicholson pulls up the wire on the riverbank, leading them toward Joyce, who is manning the detonator. Joyce breaks cover and stabs Saito to death. Nicholson calls for help and attempts to stop Joyce from reaching the detonator. After Joyce is shot, Yai is shot dead while offering covering fire as Shears swims across the river to try to detonate the explosives but he too is fatally wounded. Recognizing Shears, Nicholson exclaims, "What have I done?" Warden fires a mortar, wounding Nicholson. Dazed, Nicholson stumbles towards the detonator and falls on the plunger, blowing up the bridge; the train tumbles into the river. Warden, turning toward the group's horrified guides, pleads, "I had to do it! They might have been taken alive!". Witnessing the carnage, Clipton exclaims, "Madness! ... Madness!"
Cast
Production Screenplay The screenwriters, Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson, were on the Hollywood blacklist and even though living in exile in England could only work on the film in secret. The two did not collaborate on the script; 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 for Best Screenplay (Adaptation) 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. Subsequent releases of the film gave them proper screen credit. David Lean claimed that producer Sam Spiegel cheated him out of his rightful part in the credits since he had had a major hand in the script.The Guardian, 17 April 1991
The film was relatively faithful to the novel, with two major exceptions. Shears, who is a British commando officer like Warden in the novel, becomes an American sailor who escapes from the POW camp. Also, in the novel, the bridge is not destroyed: the train plummets into the river from a secondary charge placed by Warden, but Nicholson (never realizing "what have I done?") does not fall onto the plunger, and the bridge suffers only minor damage. Boulle nonetheless enjoyed the film version, though he disagreed with its climax.Joyaux, Georges. The Bridge over the River Kwai: From the Novel to the Movie, Literature/Film Quarterly, published in the Spring of 1974. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
Casting Although Lean later denied it, Charles Laughton was his first choice for the role of Nicholson. Laughton was in his habitually overweight state and was either denied insurance coverage or was simply not keen on filming in a tropical location.{SBIFF} {Lanchester, Elsa Charles Laughton and I} Cary Grant was offered the role of Nicholson but turned it down in favor of The Pride and the Passion to work with Marlon Brando before he was replaced by Frank Sinatra on that film. Guinness admitted that Lean "didn't particularly want me" for the role, and thought about immediately returning to England when he arrived in Ceylon and Lean reminded him that he was not the first choice.{Guinness, Alec Blessings in Disguise}
William Holden's deal—he received 10% of the film's gross receipts—was considered one of the best ever for an actor at the time.
Filming
Many directors were considered for the project, among them John Ford, William Wyler, Howard Hawks, Fred Zinnemann, and Orson Welles (who was also offered a starring role).Baer, William. "Film: The Bridge on the River Kwai" , Crisis Magazine, published 9 January 2007. Retrieved 24 September 2015."Flashback: A look back at this day in film history (The Bridge on the River Kwai released)" , www.focusfeatures.com, published 23 Sep 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
The film was an international co-production between companies in Britain and the United States.
Director David Lean clashed repeatedly with his cast members, particularly 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; the actor wanted to play the part with a sense of humor and sympathy, while Lean thought Nicholson should be "a bore." On another occasion, they argued over the scene where Nicholson reflects on his career in the army. Lean filmed the scene from behind Guinness and angrily exploded 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)
The film was made in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). The bridge in the film was near Kitulgala. The Mount Lavinia Hotel was used as a location for the hospital.
Guinness said that he subconsciously based his walk while emerging from "the Oven" on that of his eleven-year-old son Matthew,Jason, Gary. "Classic Problem, Classic Films" , www.libertyunbound.com, published 19 Sep 2011. Retrieved 24 September 2015. who was recovering from polio at the time, a disease that left him temporarily paralyzed from the waist down.Reichardt, Rita. "How Father Brown Led Sir Alec Guinness to the Church" , www.catholicculture.org, published May/June 2005. Retrieved 24 September 2015. Guinness reflected on the scene, calling it the "finest piece of work" he had ever done.Tollestrup, Jon. "The Bridge on the River Kwai - 1957" , www.oscarwinningfilms.blogspot.co.uk, published 12 August 2013. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
Lean nearly drowned when he was swept away by the river current during a break from filming."The Bridge on the River Kwai(disasters on the film set)" , Purbeck Film Festival, published 24 Aug 2014. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
In a 1988 interview with Barry Norman, Lean confirmed that Columbia almost stopped filming after three weeks because there was no white woman in the film, forcing him to add what he called "a very terrible scene" between Holden and a nurse on the beach.
The filming of the bridge explosion was to be done on 10 March 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 damaged. It was repaired in time to be blown up the next morning, with Bandaranaike and his entourage present.
Music and soundtrack
British composer Malcolm Arnold recalled that he had "ten days to write around forty-five minutes worth of music"—much less time than he was used to. He described the music for The Bridge on the River Kwai as the "worst job I ever had in my life" because of the time constraint. Despite this, he won an Oscar and a Grammy. The film's soundtrack was released on LP after the film (Columbia CL 1100). In 1990, Christopher Palmer arranged a concert suite for large orchestra for Arnold's 70th birthday.