Cinematic, not historical magnificence

Rating: Null/10 (31 October 2010)

As someone studying Japanese atrocities in military history as part of my university course, I watched this movie recently; partially to feed my current fixation on Alec Guinness and also to have something to tie in with topics studied. Also I am planning to see the Burma-Thailand Railway for my next holiday.
Cinematically features such as Guinness's role and themes and technique are high quality but I feel the lack of realistic portrayal of the suffering of the British and Allied soldiers is a neglect of an important part of history that needs to be remembered and I've also heard that some veterans of these horrors did feel the movie is quality film making and as entertainment but the lack of exposure of suffering is somewhat insulting to those who went through some pretty unimaginable things.
At least for me the film did spark me to learn more about the atrocities so it's not a total let down. Just don't expect historical recounts and expose of suffering in this film, cause it doesn't provide enough.