A Beautiful Film About the Delicacy of Humanity

Rating: 9/10 (5 September 2006)

With "The Bridge on the River Kwai," David Lean launched the string of "epics-with-a-soul" that would dominate the remainder of his career.
In "Kwai," Lean deftly juggles what seem like two entirely different movies to create one strong indictment of war's ability to strip men of their humanity. In one plot line, Alec Guinness, a British officer being held in a Japanese prison camp, locks horns with the commander of the camp (Sessue Hayakawa), who puts Guinness and the other British soldiers in charge of constructing a bridge that will help the Japanese in their struggle to win the war. In the other dominant plot line, William Holden plays the leader of a platoon of men charged with blowing up said bridge. This plot line plays out like an exciting but fairly standard action film. It's the fascinating story of Guinness's transformation, not to mention his spectacular performance, that gives the film its status as a classic. The same quality of British perseverance that made Guinness such a loyal officer for the Allies works in Japanese favor as he becomes committed to building as fine a bridge as possible, forgetting its ultimate purpose. The film very eloquently communicates how noble attributes like loyalty and honor can be manipulated to satisfy what in certain circumstances can be perceived to be dubious ends, which, when you think about it (though few people want to) characterizes the basis of military recruitment everywhere.
"Kwai" joined a batch of other 1957 releases -- like "12 Angry Men," "Paths of Glory" and "Sweet Smell of Success" -- in introducing a grittier and at the same time more poetic style of film-making that looked forward to the art-house style that would come into its own throughout the 1960s.
Grade: A