IMDb > The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
The Bridge on the River Kwai
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The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) More at IMDbPro »

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The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) -- After settling his differences with a Japanese PoW camp commander, a British colonel co-operates to oversee his men's construction of a railway bridge for their captors - while oblivious to a plan by the Allies to destroy it.
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) -- Clip: What have I done
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) -- After settling his differences with a Japanese PoW camp commander, a British colonel co-operates to oversee his men's construction of a railway bridge for their captors - while oblivious to a plan by the Allies to destroy it.
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) -- Movieplayer.it - Trailer (Flash)
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Overview

User Rating:
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 3% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
David Lean
Writer (WGA):
Pierre Boulle (novel)
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Contact:
View company contact information for The Bridge on the River Kwai on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
2 October 1957 (UK) more
Genre:
Adventure | Drama | War more
Tagline:
It spans a whole new world of entertainment!
Plot:
After settling his differences with a Japanese PoW camp commander, a British colonel co-operates to oversee his men's construction of a railway bridge for their captors - while oblivious to a plan by the Allies to destroy it. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
Won 7 Oscars. Another 23 wins & 5 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(17 articles)
Birthday Suit: You've Seen Demi's
 (From FilmExperience. 11 November 2009, 4:00 AM, PST)
Geek Deal: Columbia Best Picture Collection for $60
 (From Slash Film. 17 September 2009, 11:30 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
A powerful film experience more (211 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

William Holden ... Shears

Alec Guinness ... Colonel Nicholson
Jack Hawkins ... Major Warden
Sessue Hayakawa ... Colonel Saito
James Donald ... Major Clipton
Geoffrey Horne ... Lieutenant Joyce
André Morell ... Colonel Green (as Andre Morell)
Peter Williams ... Captain Reeves
John Boxer ... Major Hughes
Percy Herbert ... Grogan
Harold Goodwin ... Baker
Ann Sears ... Nurse
Heihachirô Ôkawa ... Captain Kanematsu (as Henry Okawa)
Keiichiro Katsumoto ... Lieutenant Miura (as K. Katsumoto)
M.R.B. Chakrabandhu ... Col. Broome Yai
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Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated PG for mild war violence. (1991 reissue)
Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parents
Runtime:
161 min
Country:
UK | USA
Language:
English | Japanese | Thai
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.55 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) (RCA Sound System) | Dolby SR (re-release) | Mono (35 mm prints)
Certification:
Iceland:12 | South Korea:12 | USA:Approved | USA:PG (re-rating) (1991) | Brazil:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Spain:T | UK:PG | West Germany:12 (w) | Sweden:15 | Canada:PG (Ontario)
Filming Locations:
Ambepussa, Sri Lanka more
Company:
Horizon Pictures (II) more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
John Ford, like Howard Hawks, was considered as a director before David Lean was chosen. more
Goofs:
Factual errors: Towards the end of the movie before the bridge is blown up, the soldiers are seen marching across the bridge on their way to a new camp. From the long shot it is not clear that they are marching in step, but it is clear from the sound effects. It has been a widely used practice since 1850 that soldiers marching across bridges will break step so as not to cause any undue resonant stress on the bridge and may cause it to collapse. While this notion that a bridge will collapse is still under debate, it may be that the scene shot in the film proves the exception. more
Quotes:
[last lines]
Major Clipton: Madness! Madness!
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Time of the Apes (#4.6)" (1991) more
Soundtrack:
For He's a Jolly Good Fellow more

FAQ

What Does Warden (Jack Hawkins) Mean By "I Had To Do It"?
A NOTE REGARDING SPOILERS
How much sex, violence, and profanity are in this movie
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User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
62 out of 88 people found the following comment useful.
A powerful film experience, 10 December 1999
10/10
Author: Wormtongue1 from Columbus, Ohio

I heard a film critic once say that there really aren't "war movies"; there are only "anti-war" movies. I'm still not sure what I think of that claim, but having seen - The Bridge on the River Kwai- enough times in the past several years, I think I'm persuaded that it's at least half right. -Kwai-, I believe, is both a "war" and "anti-war" movie, and, in my view, it succeeds admirably at both.

There is almost no element of -Kwai- that is not praise-worthy. David Lean's direction is tight and evocative. The cinematography is great (even though the color seems increasingly drained in film versions that I have seen). The acting is top-notch. I honestly believe that this is Alec Guiness's best performance, and Sessue Hayakawa is also highly sympathetic and believable. William Holden and Jack Hawkins round out the cast nicely.

The musical score is also right on. Simply put, -Kwai- is an excellently constructed film made by people who obviously cared a great deal about it. As a result, the viewer comes to care a great deal about it as well.

Clearly -Kwai- is an anti-war film. There is no glorification here. War is brutal, period. It's brutality is not captured here in terms of gory carnage or senseless battles. Instead, the psychological dimension of brutality comes across clearly. Yet, -Kwai- also shows the resilience of the human spirit as well as its complexity. One is left wondering if participation in World War II not only psychologically brutalized the characters played by Guiness, Hayakawa, and Holden but also if it simultaneously uplifted them. The paradox is striking to me each time I view this film. War can act both as a positive and negative catalyst, and it can do both of these things at the same instant.

So, is -The Bridge on the River Kwai- a war movie or an anti-war movie? I think Lean clearly preferred the latter, but the subject matter and his approach to it may have landed somewhere in between.

Regardless, -Kwai- is a fantastic film experience and is not to be missed. It is, simply put, my very favorite film--bar none.

Was the above comment useful to you?
more (211 total)

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lyrics to the march jleslie48
Am i the only one who thinks that.... jenseyde
Major Warden's Retreat wrunge7-1
need help.. searching for name of movie similar to this one... Maquina_Muerte
The ending of the ending sucked...(spoiler) vespid23
The uncredited actors ? claude-rouyer
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