A large group of British soldiers have been captured by the Japanese
during WWII and are brought to a POW camp. They are going to be used as
a labor force to build a bridge over the nearby river Kwai, so that a
strategically important railroad link can be completed.
Trouble occurs when their commanding officer (Alec Guinness) stands on
the Geneva code and refuses to let his officers do manual labor. A
contest of wills follows as the camp commander (Sessue Hayakawa) decides
to break Guinness by putting him in a stiffling solitary confinement.
After this is sorted out another conflict occurs. The Brits
(understandably) want to drag out the construction but Guinness has
other ideas. He wants to show them what the Brits can do and put the
Japanese engineers to shame. He takes over the project and improves it
greatly. This climaxes with enormous doubt and regret.
Guinness is incredible in this movie. He won a very deserved Best Actor
award for it. The whole film is great and was the Best Picture winner
of 1957. If you haven't seen it, do so.
Interestingly, one of the most memorable parts of the movie is a
whistled tune from the Brits. Did you know that the tune has words? Careful, it's bawdy.
3 comments:
I really like this movie too. I didn't know there were lyrics to the theme song, but it is very memorable.
Hey Peder ... it's Sissy. I loved the entry about Mr. Trinh.
The Colonel Bogey March is possibly one of the most-recognized film themes...well, ever. I heartily second this film, not only for the performance of Alec Guinness, but that of William Holden (what is it with Mr. Holden and cynical prisoner-types?).
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