The classic story of English POWs in Burma forced to build a bridge to aid the war effort of their Japanese captors. British and American intelligence officers conspire to blow up the structure, but Col. Nicholson, the commander who supervised the bridge's construction, has acquired a sense of pride in his creation and tries to foil their plans.
El Puente Sobre el Río Kwai, Most na rijeci Kwai, Most na Rzece Kwai, Broen over Kwai, 戦場にかける橋：1957, Die Brücke am Kwai, Kwai Köprüsü, Le Pont de la rivière Kwaï, Il ponte sul fiume Kwai, A Ponte do Rio Kwai, El puente sobre el río Kwai, Мост через реку Квай, Bron över floden Kwai, Híd a Kwai folyón, Most přes řeku Kwai, 桂河大桥, Most na rzece Kwai, Broen over floden Kwai, 戦場にかける橋, Η γέφυρα του ποταμού Κβάι, הגשר על נהר קוואי, 콰이강의 다리, Мостът на река Куай, Міст через річку Квай, Podul de pe râul Kwai, Kwai-joen silta, 桂河橋, 桂河大橋, Most cez rieku Kwai, Tiltas per Kvai upę, Chiếc Cầu Trên Sông Kwai, پل رودخانهی کووای, Мост на реци Квај, ხიდი მდინარე კვაიზე, El pont del riu Kwai, สะพานข้ามแม่น้ำแคว, Most na reki Kwai, Tilts pār Kvai upi
UKPG London 
China Shanghai International Film Festival 
FinlandK-12 
Czechia12+ 
Belgium16 
Norway15 UKPG 
AustraliaPG 
USAPG 
TP 
JapanG 
Brazil12 
SpainA 
IrelandPG 
Italy 
12 
Greece13 
Netherlands12 
Sweden15 
Austria12 
PortugalM/12 
South Korea12 
Hungary12 Sweden15 Netherlands12 Sweden15 Netherlands12 Sweden15 Netherlands12 Australia Austria Belgium Brazil China Czechia Finland Greece Hungary Ireland Italy Japan Netherlands Norway Portugal South Korea Spain Sweden UK USA
love to build a bridge with the boys
”There are times when suddenly you realize you're nearer the end than the beginning. And you wonder, you ask yourself, what the sum total of your life represents. What difference your being there at any time made to anything.”
According to Letterboxd this was my 1000th movie so to mark this occasion I decided to visit a renowned work of one of my favorite filmmakers of all time: Sir David Lean and his majestic, impossible to resist and superb The Bridge on the River Kwai. And unsurprisingly it turned out to be a true absorbing classic. Just timeless.
David Lean is famous for the grandeur and epic scale of his films, it didn’t matter if it was the vast boiling…
Western cinema's great "Life's a bitch and then you die" treatise.
The feel-good movie of Christmas 1957.
Me act one: There’s no way I’m going to care about a three hour long movie about a bridge
Me act three: Holy fuck the bridge
the song slaps
David Lean directs a proud and accomplished war film that boasts all the qualities as to why he is noteworthy: constantly riveting cinematography, small yet terrifyingly lethal conversations, stern and compelling performances and gripping action. There’s a consistently impressive feat of visuals that are composed of various beiges, greens, and browns and while that may seem undiverse or dull, it proves itself to look shockingly stunning. It’s clear to see why the film went on to snatch so many awards - especially back then as I cannot imagine how audiences perceived this - yet the tension and marvel are released solely from the last thirty minutes. A glacial build-up is, however, required for such a striking final act.
There's a lot to ire about The Bridge on the River Kwai. It's a grand production that's put together amazingly well and benefits a lot from composed direction, some excellent performances as well as the expertly executed third act. Yet when compared to its near-unanimous praise, it turned out to be slightly underwhelming experience for me.
The story takes place in a Japanese prison camp during the Second World War where the newly arrived British prisoners of war are ordered to construct a railway bridge; a task which is later overseen by their senior officer after his conditions are accepted but he's completely oblivious of the allies' plan to destroy it.
Directed by David Lean, this is the second film…
**Part of the Best Picture Project**
David Lean's The Bridge on the River Kwai is a film about men and their principles. To each man, their principles are a thing of valor, and something that defines them. Nicholson (Guiness) believes in the book, and cooperating with the Japanese to make the best of things. Warden too, believes in the book, but in a vastly different way, and only seeks to get the job done. Shears, meanwhile, values no book but his own, the one of survival. Then there is Saito, who is stuck to his own Japanese code of honor.
It's ultimately fascinating to watch all these principles come into conflict over the title bridge built by British prisoners. For…
Me whenever Alec Guiness and Sessue Hayakawa are on screen: "HELL YEAH!"
Me whenever they cut to William Holden: "ZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZz"
Viewed purely as entertainment, The Bridge on the River Kwai delivers an enthralling, beautifully lensed WW2 yarn. In of history accuracy though, it's more suspect. Not only does it downplay the brutality of conditions in Japanese POW camps as well as the privations prisoners conscripted to work on the building of the infamous Burma Railway were forced to endure, but the titular bridge is a fiction. The real bridge (actually two bridges, a steel construction and a temporary wooden one) spanned the then-named Mae Klong river and was destroyed during Allied bombing raids after two years of use. Alec Guiness's portrayal of Colonel Nicholson also appears to deviate from the real-life subject, Lieutent Colonel Toosey. Toosey, by all s,…
David Lean strikes again! The Bridge on the River Kwai is a masterpiece in pacing, performances, and scripting. This is a war movie that does not focus on gun fights, explosions or violence of war per se, but the futility of it and the arrogance inherent in manmade destruction. Part adventure, part humane allegory, the film is also a deeply ironic portrayal of stubbornness and persistence. Performances are all perfect, photography is legendary, and the entire production is just suffused in an epic scale that only Lean that deliver. The film is cinematic in ways that other films don't even come close to achieving.
