As the Japanese engineers chose a poor site, a new bridge is begun downstream. The 1957 award winning British-American war film The Bridge on the River Kwai was based on the novel Le Pont de la Rivière Kwai (1952) which brought these struggles of the survivors to light. [12], Director David Lean clashed with his cast members on multiple occasions, particularly Alec Guinness and James Donald, who thought the novel was anti-British. [37], The film was re-released in 1964 and earned a further estimated $2.6 million at the box office in the United States and Canada[38] but the following year its revised total US and Canadian revenues were reported by Variety as $17,195,000. Nicholson is shocked by the poor job being done by his men. “The Bridge on the River Kwai” won Best Picture and six other Oscar nods from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences at the 1958 Academy Awards. [21], A memorable feature of the film is the tune that is whistled by the POWs—the first strain of the march "Colonel Bogey"—when they enter the camp. Under cover of darkness, Shears and Joyce plant explosives on the bridge towers. Spike from the Burma Railroad. Julie Summers, in her book The Colonel of Tamarkan, writes that Boulle, who had been a prisoner of war in Thailand, created the fictional Nicholson character as an amalgam of his memories of collaborating French officers. [54] The original negative for the feature was scanned at 4k (roughly four times the resolution in High Definition), and the colour correction and digital restoration were also completed at 4k. "The ending of that was sort of the story of life. Saito threatens to have them shot, but Nicholson refuses to back down. It is as beautiful a film to watch today as it was in 1957, proudly boasting the Cinemascope format that was used to photograph the wilds of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) which stood in for the film… The film was directed by David Lean and starred William Holding, Jack … In a 1988 interview with Barry Norman, Lean confirmed that Columbia almost stopped filming after three weeks because there was no white woman in the film, forcing him to add what he calls, "a very terrible scene" between William Holden and the nurse on the beach. But I am writing a factual account, and in justice to these men—living and dead—who worked on that bridge, I must make it clear that we never did so willingly. Alec Guinness, William Holden, Jack Hawkins, and Sessue Hayakawa. Discussions over building a replica of the bridge are currently underway. In early 1943, British POWs arrive at a Japanese prison camp in Burma. The movie was based on the 1952 novel by Pierre Boulle. Lean shouted at them, 'For God's sake, whistle a march to keep time to.' According to Columbia Pictures, they followed an all-new 4K digital restoration from the original negative with newly restored 5.1 audio. The official credit was given to Pierre Boulle (who did not speak English), and the resulting Oscar for Best Screenplay (Adaptation) was awarded to him. The British Film Institute placed The Bridge on the River Kwai as the 11th greatest British film. The film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. Guinness later said that he subconsciously based his walk while emerging from "the Oven" on that of his eleven-year-old son Matthew,[14] who was recovering from polio at the time, a disease that left him temporarily paralyzed from the waist down. [53], On 2 November 2010 Columbia Pictures released a newly restored The Bridge on the River Kwai for the first time on Blu-ray. Unique to this film, in some ways, were other issues related to poorly made optical dissolves, the original camera lens and a malfunctioning camera. That makes the Bridge on the River Kwai one of Kanchanaburi’s most popular war-related attractions – there are always crowds trudging across it and snapping photos – but it is actually something of a misnomer. [16], Lean nearly drowned when he was swept away by the river current during a break from filming.[17]. Warden is wounded in an encounter with a Japanese patrol and has to be carried on a litter. The screenwriters, Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson, were on the Hollywood blacklist and, even though living in exile in England, could only work on the film in secret. IT WAS LOOSELY BASED ON REAL EVENTS. Lean had a lengthy row with Guinness over how to play the role of Nicholson; Guinness wanted to play the part with a sense of humour and sympathy, while Lean thought Nicholson should be "a bore." In reality, Japanese engineers proved to be just as capable at construction efforts as their Allied counterparts.[47][48]. When Major Clipton, the British medical officer, warns Saito there are too many witnesses for him to get away with murder, Saito leaves the officers standing all day in the intense heat. However, cameraman Freddy Ford was unable to get out of the way of the explosion in time, and Lean had to stop filming. British POWs are forced to build a railway bridge across the river Kwai for their Japanese captors, not knowing that the allied forces are planning to destroy it. The Bridge on the River Kwai is a 1957 epic war film directed by David Lean and based on the 1952 novel written by Pierre Boulle. does not fall onto the plunger, and the bridge suffers only minor damage. Bandaranaike, then Prime Minister of Ceylon, and a team of government dignitaries. The film is set in 1943, as the forces of Imperial Japan are tightening their hold on South East Asia. Shears is so appalled at going back he confesses he is not an officer; he impersonated one, expecting better treatment from the Japanese. In reality, Risaburo Saito was respected by his prisoners for being comparatively merciful and fair towards them. Shears is enjoying his hospital stay in Ceylon when British Major Warden invites him to join a commando mission to destroy the bridge before it is completed. Whether via VHS, widescreen VHS, LaserDisc, DVD, or even high-definition Blu-ray, it has long been plagued by an overly contrasty, crushed, murky look that didn’t quash its emotional impact but nonetheless seemed like a missed opportunity, especially given the film’s lush setting. Discover this hidden gem set away from the crowds. He wanders half-dead into a Siamese village, where he is nursed back to health before completing his escape to the British colony of Ceylon. Madness! The major railway bridge described in the novel and film didn't actually cross the river known at the time as the Kwai. Thanks to the film, the Bridge, situated in the Thai town of Kanchanaburi a couple of hours drive from Bangkok, is one of Thailand’s most popular tourist attractions. Correspondence between film companies and the War Office turns up in a number of files at The National Archives. When Joyce is mortally wounded by Japanese fire, Shears swims across the river, but is himself shot. Like Robert Graves' World War I memoir, Goodbye to All That, it shows men grimly hanging onto military discipline and pride in their units as a way of clinging to sanity. [30], Lieutenant Colonel Philip Toosey of the British Army was the real senior Allied officer at the bridge in question. Two labour forces, one based in Siam and the other in Burma, worked from opposite ends of the line towards the centre. Their roles and characters, however, are fictionalised. The movie, exploring the lives of British prisoners of war being held at a Japanese prison camp in Burma, was filmed in Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon) near the town of Kitulgala, which is known for its rainforests, adventure sports and activities. In fact, two bridges were built: a temporary wooden bridge and a permanent steel/concrete bridge a few months later. The separate dialogue, music and effects were located and remixed with newly recorded "atmospheric" sound effects. He created the railroad. swept seven Academy Awards including the award for Best Picture. Boulle based his novel, published in 1952, on his … The film was made in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). However, in 1943 a railway bridge was built by Allied POWs over the Mae Klong river – renamed Khwae Yai in the 1960s as a result of the film – at Tha Ma Kham, five kilometres from Kanchanaburi, Thailand. Did he really want the enemy to come in across it?”[46], Some Japanese viewers disliked the film's depiction of the Japanese characters present in the movie and the historical background presented as being inaccurate, particularly in the interactions between Saito and Nicholson. It was initially scripted by screenwriter Carl Foreman, who was later replaced by Michael Wilson. [44] William Holden was also credited for his acting, he was said to give a solid characterization and was "easy, credible and always likeable in a role that is the pivot point of the story". Although the Kelani River was a slower-moving waterway during the film’s shooting than it is today, David Lean (the director of the movie) is said to have nearly drowned when the river swept him away during a break from filming. "[24], A 1969 BBC television documentary, Return to the River Kwai, made by former POW John Coast,[27] sought to highlight the real history behind the film (partly through getting ex-POWs to question its factual basis, for example Dr Hugh de Wardener and Lt-Col Alfred Knights), which angered many former POWs. [29] According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission: The notorious Burma-Siam railway, built by Commonwealth, Dutch and American prisoners of war, was a Japanese project driven by the need for improved communications to support the large Japanese army in Burma. When the Japanese launched their lightning attacks in December 1941, they not only targeted the American fleet and its island bases, but … Both bridges were destroyed by Allied bombers on 2 April 1945, although they had been damaged and repaired several times before. While Nicholson disapproves of acts of sabotage and other deliberate attempts to delay progress, Toosey encouraged this: termites were collected in large numbers to eat the wooden structures, and the concrete was badly mixed. [10][11], The film was an international co-production between companies in Britain and the United States. The steel bridge was repaired and is still in use today. The filming location for Bridge on the River Kwai is today indicated by a discreet, rusted piece of metal on which directions to the area have been painted. Nicholson spots the wire and brings it to Saito's attention. [42], Slant Magazine gave the film four out of five stars. When he asks that their Japanese counterparts pitch in as well, a resigned Saito replies that he already gave the order. [22] Gavin Young[23] recounts meeting Donald Wise, a former prisoner of the Japanese who had worked on the Burma Railway. The filming of the bridge explosion was to be done on 10 March 1957, in the presence of S.W.R.D. [43] Slant stated that "the 1957 epic subtly develops its themes about the irrationality of honor and the hypocrisy of Britain's class system without ever compromising its thrilling war narrative", and in comparing to other films of the time said that Bridge on the River Kwai "carefully builds its psychological tension until it erupts in a blinding flash of sulfur and flame. He described the music for The Bridge on the River Kwai as the "worst job I ever had in my life" from the point of view of time. But in Bangkok I was told that David Lean, the film's director, became mad at the extras who played the prisoners—us—because they couldn't march in time. Although the 1957 film was set on the Death Railway of Burma, where British PoWs built a real bridge over a real River Kwai in Thailand, it was filmed in Sri Lanka. Many historical inaccuracies in the film have often been noted by eyewitnesses to the building of the real Burma Railway and historians. [25][26] Some consider the film to be an insulting parody of Toosey. Recognising the dying Shears, Nicholson exclaims, "What have I done?" The official credit was given to Pierre Boulle (who did not speak English), and the resulting Oscar for Best Screenplay (Adaptation) was awarded to him. This film was shot in Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon), and a bridge was erected for the purpose of shooting the film over Kelani River at Kitulgala, Sri Lanka. [34] According to Variety, the film earned estimated domestic box office revenues of $18,000,000[35] although this was revised downwards the following year to $15,000,000, which was still the biggest for 1958 and Columbia's highest-grossing film at the time. When the shipment failed to arrive in London, a worldwide search was undertaken. Arnold won an Academy Award for the film's score. He knew that the railway ran parallel to the Kwae for many miles, and he therefore assumed that it was the Kwae which it crossed just north of Kanchanaburi. [45], Warren Buffett said it was his favorite movie. The novel was made into the 1957 film The Bridge on the River Kwai, directed by David Lean, which won the 1957 Academy Award for Best Picture. Usually, the correspondence centres on requests for support from the War Office. The dazed colonel stumbles towards the detonator and collapses on the plunger, blowing up the bridge and send the train hurtling into the river. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film received an approval rating of 95% based on 58 reviews, with an average rating of 9.33/10. Wise: "I never heard it in Thailand. By daybreak the river level has dropped, exposing the wire connecting the explosives to the detonator. The documentary itself was described by one newspaper reviewer when it was shown on Boxing Day 1974 (The Bridge on the River Kwai had been shown on BBC1 on Christmas Day 1974) as "Following the movie, this is a rerun of the antidote."[32]. [33], The Bridge on the River Kwai was a massive commercial success. The cast includes These issues, running throughout the film, were addressed to a lesser extent on various previous DVD releases of the film and might not have been so obvious in standard definition. A train carrying important dignitaries and soldiers is scheduled to be the first to cross the bridge the following day, so Warden waits to destroy both. Mitch Miller had a hit with a recording of both marches. [24][25][26][27], The plot and characters of Boulle's novel and the screenplay were almost entirely fictional.[28]. The prisoners work as little as possible and sabotage what they can. The Bridge on the River Kwai is a 1957 World War II epic film directed by David Lean, based on the novel Le Pont de la Rivière Kwai (1952) by Pierre Boulle.The film is a work of fiction but borrows the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942–43 for its historical setting. "[44] Significant praise was also given to the actors especially Alec Guinness, Variety said that "the film is unquestionably Guinness'". The movie was based on the 1952 novel by Pierre Boulle. [42] Ebert notes that the film is one of the few war movies that "focuses not on larger rights and wrongs but on individuals", but commented that the viewer is not certain what is intended by the final dialogue due to the film's shifting points of view. When the bridge was built, the water beneath it was actually the Mae Klong River, although it did join the Khwae Noi River elsewhere. Warden fires a mortar, wounding Nicholson. [39], The film initially received generally positive reviews, with Guinness being widely praised for his performance. But the reality was a bit different than the movie. Nicholson drives his men hard to complete the bridge on time. The film won seven Academy Awards (including Best Picture) at the 30th Academy Awards. Recently, the Tourist Board of Sri Lanka has considered installing a replica of the bridge from the film to promote further interest in Kitulgala and its surrounding rainforests to visiting tourists. Visit Kitulgala during the peak season of January to March, as the climate is cooler and with less rainfall; it’s the ideal time to partake in a variety of water sports in the area. ABC, sponsored by Ford, paid a record $1.8 million for the television rights for two screenings in the United States. The Bridge on the River Kwai, British-American war film, released in 1957 and directed by David Lean, that was both a critical and popular success and became an enduring classic. [9], Many directors were considered for the project, among them John Ford, William Wyler, Howard Hawks, Fred Zinnemann, and Orson Welles (who was also offered a starring role). And a bloke called George Siegatz ... —an expert whistler—began to whistle Colonel Bogey, and a hit was born.". The film uses the historical setting of the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942–1943. [41], Roger Ebert gives the film four out of four stars. Although it was not exposed to sunlight, the heat-sensitive colour film stock should have been hopelessly ruined; however, when processed the shots were perfect and appeared in the film. A Gem of the Silver Screen. The movie garnered seven Academy Awards, including that for best picture, as well as three Golden Globe Awards and four BAFTA awards. Some of the characters in the film use the names of real people who were involved in the Burma Railway. Directed by David Lean. [17], The producers nearly suffered a catastrophe following the filming of the bridge explosion. In particular, they objected to the implication presented in the film that Japanese military engineers were generally unskilled and unproficient at their professions. [25] He strongly denied the claim that the book was anti-British, although many involved in the film itself (including Alec Guinness) felt otherwise. "[40] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 87 out of 100 based on 14 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". The movie, exploring the lives of British prisoners of war being held at a Japanese prison camp in Burma, was filmed in Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon) near the town of Kitulgala, which is known for its rainforests, adventure sports and activities. Only in 1984 did the Academy rectify the situation by retroactively awarding the Oscar to Foreman and Wilson, posthumously in both cases. Toosey later defended him in his war crimes trial after the war, and the two became friends. "The Bridge on the River Kwai" (1957) is one of the few that focuses not on larger rights and wrongs but on individuals. The Bridge on the River Kwai has never been a great-looking film. It is best to watch the movie first before you visit the area, so you can reimagine how the set would have looked like. [36] By October 1960, the film had earned worldwide box office revenues of $30 million. The two did not collaborate on the script; Wilson took over after Lean was dissatisfied with Foreman's work. Also, in the novel, the bridge is not destroyed: the train plummets into the river from a secondary charge placed by Warden, but Nicholson (never realising "what have I done?") The site's critical consensus reads, "This complex war epic asks hard questions, resists easy answers, and boasts career-defining work from star Alec Guinness and director David Lean. During its construction, approximately 13,000 prisoners of war died and were buried along the railway. It stresses the importance of duty, but Kwai is quick to show how adherence to duty for the wrong reasons (pride, for example) can tempt disaster.This film may look like another glossy World War II film from the late 1950s, but it is in a class all by itself. Two are shot dead, but United States Navy Lieutenant Commander Shears gets away. Kithulgala – The Filming Location of The Bridge on the River Kwai They were put to work under terrible conditions and were treated brutally. Only in 1984 did the Academyrectify the situation by retroactively awarding the Oscar t… The Bridge On The River Kwai – 1957 – English. For him, its completion will exemplify the ingenuity and hard work of the British Army. [8], The film was relatively faithful to the novel, with two major exceptions. It was repaired in time to be blown up the next morning, with Bandaranaike and his entourage present. Discover this hidden gem set away from the crowds. In an interview he said that "There were a lot of lessons in that", Buffett said of the film. David Lean himself also claimed that producer Sam Spiegel cheated him out of his rightful part in the credits since he had had a major hand in the script. It was still highly unusual at that time for a television network to show such a long film in one evening; most films of that length were still generally split into two parts and shown over two evenings. The negative itself manifested many of the kinds of issues one would expect from a film of this vintage: torn frames, embedded emulsion dirt, scratches through every reel, colour fading. That evening, the officers are placed in a punishment hut, while Nicholson is locked in an iron box after getting beaten as punishment. The filming location for Bridge on the River Kwai is today indicated by a discreet, rusted piece of metal on which directions to the area have been painted. The march was written in 1914 by Kenneth J. Alford, a pseudonym of British Bandmaster Frederick J. Ricketts. In the film, a Colonel Saito is camp commandant. Lean filmed the scene from behind Guinness and exploded in anger when Guinness asked him why he was doing this. We hadn't much breath left for whistling. With William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa. An example of this is when commandos Warden and Joyce hunt a fleeing Japanese soldier through the jungle, desperate to prevent him from alerting other troops. This was an incorrect assumption. Subsequent releases of the film finally gave them proper screen credit. The Bridge on the River Kwai is a British 1957 movie from Columbia Pictures, based on Pierre Boulle's 1952 book The Bridge over the River Kwai (French: Le Pont de la Rivière Kwai).The movie was mainly filmed in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and also in England.. He, Shears, and Canadian Lieutenant Joyce reach the river in time with the assistance of Siamese women bearers and their village chief, Khun Yai. Toosey was very different from Nicholson and was certainly not a collaborator who felt obliged to work with the Japanese. To the producers' horror, the film containers were found a week later on an airport tarmac in Cairo, sitting in the hot sun. The movie, exploring the lives of British prisoners of war being held at a Japanese prison camp in Burma, was filmed in Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon) near the town of Kitulgala, which is known for its rainforests, adventure sports and activities. Both bridges were used for two years, until they were destroyed by Allied bombing. The conditions to which POW and civilian labourers were subjected were far worse than the film depicted. An estimated 80,000 to 100,000 civilians also died in the course of the project, chiefly forced labour brought from Malaya and the Dutch East Indies, or conscripted in Siam (Thailand) and Burma. What I Learned From Watching: The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) YouTube Video A video essay written, edited, and narrated by Tyler Knudsen about the production of “River Kwai” and some film … In March 1958, The Bridge on the River Kwai swept seven Academy Awards including the award for Best Picture. [6][7] In 1999, the British Film Institute voted The Bridge on the River Kwai the 11th greatest British film of the 20th century. These problems resulted in a number of anomalies that were very difficult to correct, like a ghosting effect in many scenes that resembles colour mis-registration, and a tick-like effect with the image jumping or jerking side-to-side. [4][5] It has been included on the American Film Institute's list of best American films ever made. At the morning assembly, Nicholson orders his officers to remain behind when the enlisted men march off to work. The bridge in the film was near Kitulgala. The wooden bridge over the River Kwae Yai, which in Boulle’s book was called the River Kwai, was completed in February 1943, followed by a concrete and steel bridge completed in June 1943. From Bangkok:There's something not right about taking a bus to see the Death Railway and Bridge on the River Kwai. [52] The image was restored by OCS, Freeze Frame, and Pixel Magic with George Hively editing. In 1941 the Japanese Army invaded Thailand.They built a railway to link Bangkok to Rangoon.Thousands of Asian workers and POWs … Toosey in fact did as much as possible to delay the building of the bridge. The fourth film in our blog series is ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’ (1957) directed by David Lean. Nicholson forbids any escape attempts because they were ordered by headquarters to surrender, and escapes could be seen as defiance of orders. [55], This article is about the film. Should Saito fail to meet his deadline, he would be obliged to commit ritual suicide. Most importantly, there were nowhere to escape from the camp as it was surrounded by jungle. However, the true history of what really happened during the building of the bridge over the River Kwai has almost been erased by the popularity of the movie. David Lean’s 1957 The Bridge On The River Kwai is an epic anti-war film. After Guinness was done with the scene, Lean said, "Now you can all fuck off and go home, you English actors. Thank God that I'm starting work tomorrow with an American actor (William Holden)."[13]. Nicholson erects a sign commemorating the bridge's construction by the British Army. To ensure they captured the one-time event, multiple cameras from several angles were used. 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