not history but fiction

Rating: 10/10 (2 March 2008)

Just in answer to gcaplan's observations, anyone worried about the historical aspects of the film should remember that the movie is based on Pierre Boulle's novel, not specifically on historical facts. Boulle based his characters on soldiers and collaborators he had known during his own service in French Indochina during the war. His decision to use a more famous episode and British officers rather than French is perfectly understandable for a French novelist writing during the last stages of the war in Indochina. The main theme of his book is the difference in attitudes between the Japanese (and Asians generally) and the Europeans.