Movie Description
One of the all-time great war films, THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI is yet another classic from the marvelous David Lean (LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, DR. ZHIVAGO). The film is an outstanding, psychologically complex adaptation of Pierre Boulle's 1952 novel, a 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 (a fabulous Alec Guinness), the commander who supervised the bridge's construction, has acquired a sense of pride in his creation and tries to foil their plans. Although credited to screenwriter Carl Foreman, the script was actually written by blacklisted writer Michael Wilson. The film garnered seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Guinness). The climax is one of the great finales in film history.
| Credits | | Producer: | Sam Spiegel | | Cast: | Andre Morell, Ann Sears, Harold Goodwin, K. Katsumoto, Peter Williams, Sessue Hayakawa |
Notes
THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI was added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 1997.
Sri Lanka, then Ceylon, stood in for Burma (now known as Myanmar).
Editorial Reviews
"...Lean handles the climax with precision and suspense..."
Chicago Sun-Times - Roger Ebert (04/18/1999)
"...[A] masterpiece...purely enjoyable..."
USA Today - Mike Clark (11/17/2000)
"...[A] masterpiece....That rare film about something as seemingly black-and-white as World War II that is colored entirely in shades of gray, and the better for it..."
Entertainment Weekly - Marc Bernardin (11/24/2000)
"...It's certainly weathered well thanks to its novel and ingenious approach to presenting multiple perspectives of the Second World War..."
Total Film - John Walker (03/01/2001)
"...[T]wo compelling stories jelled into one sprawling action film..."
Premiere - Premiere Staff (12/01/2003)
Awards
1957Academy AwardsBest ActorAlec Guinness, 1957Academy AwardsBest Adapted ScreenplayCarl Foreman, 1957Academy AwardsBest Adapted ScreenplayMichael Wilson, 1957Academy AwardsBest Adapted ScreenplayPierre Boulle, 1957Academy AwardsBest CinematographyJack Hildyard, 1957Academy AwardsBest DirectorDavid Lean, 1957Academy AwardsBest Film Editing, 1957Academy AwardsBest Original ScoreMalcolm Arnold, 1957Academy AwardsBest Picture
| See an error? Submit a change request |
All rights reserved.
