THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI [1957] review

I had been waiting for a rainy Sunday for a long time on which to watch THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, a movie I have slight memories of from an unknown time in my childhood or adolescence. I didn’t remember much of the storyline at all, so I was pleasantly surprised by each turn of the story. As the movie went on, which is quite some time with a running time of 161 minutes, I found myself remembering a few more scenes. … The first third is a test of wills between a proud and stubborn British army colonel memorably played by Alec Guinness and an equally proud and stubborn Japanese colonel. I hardly recognized his voice as that of Obi-Won’s until the end of the film. Neither man was to give an inch, but one of them needs something done. That would be the Japanese colonel, who needs a bridge built by a fast approaching date. If this endentured task is to be done by the British prisoners, it will be done on their terms or not at all.

Another storyline follows an American soldier from jungle to hospital to jungle.

…This is one of those movies that certainly couldn’t get made today. There are no hero shots, no one-liners, just men acting like men in a jungle, with occasional hints at romance with local girls, who all just happen to be incredibly beautiful. A long, slow story that is almost always compelling is allowed to be told in its own time. In this way, there is enough time for the movie to illustrate the Japanese way of doing things, the British way of doing things, and the American way of doing things. The positives and negatives of all three ways play themselves out. This was more impacting to me now than it ever could have been as a child having spent almost 4 years living in Japan and having made several British friends.

After the movie’s methodical pace, the climax comes somewhat all of a sudden, leaving one character only able to utter a single word, twice. Save this one for a rainy Sunday afternoon, a great movie that deserves a proper moment to be watched in.

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