The Best World War II Movie Ever

Rating: 9/10 (16 April 2006)

In early 1943, a battalion of British POWs from Singapore, led by Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness), arrive at a Japanese camp along the Kwai River in Thailand, which is commanded by Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa), a brutal martinet who is determined to build a bridge across the river by May. Trouble is, Nicholson refuses to cooperate due to Saito's demand that his officers do manual labor (contrary to the Geneva Convention, of which Nicholson just happens to have a copy), and while he and his officers languish in confinement, the bridge construction goes poorly, and eventually Saito reluctantly gives into Nicholson's demands. Despite his victory, Nicholson orders his troops to build the best bridge possible - to the total bafflement of Major Clipton (James Donald), the surgeon who wonders whether Nicholson is being a good soldier or collaborating with the enemy. Meanwhile, American Navy Commander Shears (William Holden), a prison at Saito's camp, escapes and is rescued by British soldiers. Recuperating in Ceylon, he is recruited by Major Warden (Jack Hawkins) to join him and a wimpy Canadian commando (Geoffrey Horne) to go on a raid to destroy same bridge, forcing Shears to join them by threatening to reveal the truth about his rank. It all builds to a climax involving all of the above-mentioned characters, the bridge, a crap-load of plastic explosive, and a Japanese troop train.
Ignore the fact that this movie is historically inaccurate; the film makers never claimed it to be a true depiction of what happened on the Kwai River. This is simply an amazing movie all around, a potent anti-war film and intriguing character study by David Lean, making the first of his epic films and showing no signs of "growing pains" at making the transition from romantic comedies ("Brief Encounter") and Dickens adaptations ("Oliver Twist") to an epic scale.
Sir Alec Guinness gives what has to be the best performance of his career as Nicholson. His character is a martinet who believes that all rules must be followed to the T; his refusal to cooperate with Saito is based on that point alone. He forbids escape attempts because his men were ordered to surrender, and he fears it may get him into trouble with his superiors (if I were a prisoner, that would be the least of my worries). When he wins his battle with Saito, he proceeds to actually make his men work harder towards their goal. When Clipton calls him on this, Nicholson justifies his activities by saying it is his code of professionalism. Nicholson is not a likable or sympathetic character (except towards the very end, as he reflects on his life as a soldier), but he is an undoubtedly fascinating one. Rarely was an Oscar more justly won than Guinness's for this film.
On the other end, Sessue Hayakawa is excellent as Saito. Though initially depicted as bombastic and cruel, Saito actually comes across as much more sympathetic than Nicholson. He treats his prisoners reasonably well, and it's hard not to feel sorry for him - after all, if the bridge is not ready in time, he will have to commit sepuku. It is to Hayakawa's credit that he takes what was a caricature in the novel, and makes him into a sympathetic human being. How he didn't win an Oscar for this is beyond me.
William Holden is an old hand at the POW genre, having recently been involved in "Stalag 17", and he is full of his usual swagger and cynicism as Shears, the American who initially tries to get out of fighting but is a hero when the chips are down. Some have complained that Shears (who was British in the novel) was American, but to them I say: what's your point? Shears' characterization in the movie works a lot better than in the book, because it allows for his independent Yankee spirit to clash with Major Warden's all-too-familiar (in this film) British martinetism (not that that's a word or anything). Jack Hawkins is wonderful as Warden, and he and Holden have great chemistry together. James Donald is also solid as Clipton, and Andre Morrel and Geoffrey Horne do good work in their smaller parts.
Lean's direction is solid. Though not quite on a par with his later achievements of "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Doctor Zhivago" (we suspect because of the lack of Freddie Young behind the camera), we still get some amazing sights: the endless jungles of Siam; the bat stampede during a skirmish with Japanese patrols; and the climax, which is drawn out over thirty minutes but never lets up with the tension. Malcolm Arnold's score (other than the ubiquitous "Colonel Bogey March"), on the other hand, is unmemorable for the most part.
That minor complaint aside, "Kwai" deserves all of the recognition it gets, and then some. The only WWII movies that even come close to this are "Saving Private Ryan" and "The Guns of Navarone". And the amazing thing is: this film was in essence just a warm up for Lean's greatest achievement: "Lawrence of Arabia". 10/10