Despite flaws, a brilliant technical and artistic achievment

Rating: Null/10 (16 October 2001)

"Bridge on the River Kwai" is many things, both good and less so: a powerful study of the way war drives men to madness; a false document that ignores some of the more unpleasant facts about the use of slave labor in the far east during WWII; a showcase for at least two of the finest performances ever set to film (Alec Guinness and Sessue Hayakawa); a borderline racist tract that reduces whole cultures to caricature; a masterclass in cinematography and the use of ambient sound to convey mood, and for better or for worse, a blueprint for the modern tendency to emphasize dazzling style and epic scope in mainstream films.
Using the construction of the infamous WWII Burma railway as a backdrop, "Kwai" mainly concerns the clash of wills between two stubborn failures: Col. Saito (Hawakawa), a Japanese prison camp commander who is trying to get a crude wooden bridge built, without notable success; and Col. Nicholson (Guinness), a British officer who, we learn, was supposedly ordered to turn his troops over to the Japanese and now must watch as they are gradually worked and starved to death. Proceeding from a fundamental misunderstanding of each other's cultures, they immediately clash over the absurdly trivial issue of whether Nicholson's eight or so officers will work alongside the enlisted ranks. Each obviously has little to hold onto except their authority over the ragged prisoners, and each refuses to back down. "I could have you shot!" bawls Saito, and indeed, in real life he would probably have done so. Instead, he gradually becomes aware that the British officer actually is willing to help construct the bridge, as long as it is on his own terms. With with the deadline for completion fast approaching, Saito finds himself granting more and more authority to Nicholson, despite the almost unbearable loss of face this represents. Meanwhile, Nicholson becomes caught up in the chance to finally demonstrate just how competent an officer he really is, even though his efforts to complete (and even improve!) the bridge amount to collaboration with the enemy.
Observing from the sidelines is a sole American, the lazy, sardonic 'Commander' Shears (William Holden), one of the few survivors of an earlier group of prisoners. Not liking his future chances with two madmen in command, he makes his escape, not without difficulty, only to find himself dragged back into a harebrained commando raid (led by Jack Hawkins' gentleman/adventurer) to destroy the bridge before it can be used.
Despite the highly 'realistic' presentation, the film plays fast and loose with the facts of the period and location. Nevertheless, Lean's brilliant use of image and sound, and the mostly excellent performances, make this a truly essential film. Be sure to see it on DVD, or better yet, on a full-sized movie screen, where the wide-screen compositions can be appreciated.