David Lean's best movie and Guinness's too.

Rating: 10/10 (18 September 1999)

I don't know why, but every time I ask somebody what their favorite David Lean movie is, I always get the same answer, "Lawrence of Arabia". Well mine is "The bridge on the river Kwai". I think that the roles in this movie were much harder to play than in "Lawrence of Arabia". Another thing I don't understand is that when most people I know refer to "The bridge on the river Kwai", they only talk about the script and naturally, Lean's directing and Guinness's performance. I think that it is William Holden who steals the show and he didn't even get a nomination in it. His performance as Shears is absolutely incredible and totally convincing.
The movie begins with an English platoon giving in to a Japanese prison camp in WWII on a Japanese island. When they arrive to the camp, their leader, Colonel Nicholson (Guinness) asks to see the chief of the camp. He is presented to Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa) and announces to him that his platoon is surrendering. Colonel Saito tells Colonel Nicholson that his men will have to work hard to build a bridge that goes from one side to another of the river Kwai. Saito also tells him that if the men work hard, they will be treated well.
This whole conversation takes place right before the American grave-digger, Shears (Holden), held prisoner by the Japanese. He also witnesses a little scene where Nicholson comes incredibly close to getting shot and so he understands just how hard-headed he is. But Shears's only goal is to escape and that he does.
After his escape, Shears accidentally hooks up with Major Warden (Jack Hawkins) who he doesn't know. However, Warden, with the help of Nicholson's private work in the prison camp, knows a lot about Shears. He explains to Shears that Nicholson is one of his men and that his platoon surrendered because that's what Warden had ordered Nicholson to do. He also tells Shears that he gave that order because he knew about Saito's plan to build a bridge and that Nicholson's mission was to (WARNING: SPOILER) blow-up the bridge when the Japanese train which contains the ammunitions and weapons is passing on it. And since Shears was able to escape from the camp, Warden convinces him to help him get close to the prison camp to set-up the explosives.
"The bridge on the river Kwai" is a gripping, flawless movie and even though I said that Holden nearly steals the show with his performance as Shears, Guinness's performance is excellent as well. Hawkins delivers a great performance as well and Lean's directing is nothing else than perfect. He seems to have that touch of being able to make three to four hours long movies without boring the viewer. "The bridge on the river Kwai" was ranked #13 on AFI's list of their 100 all-time best movies which is exactly the rank it deserved. It is really exceptional.