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The Bridge on the River Kwai Movie Poster 915
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One day the war will be over. And I hope that the people that use this bridge in years to come will remember how it was built and who built it. Not a gang of slaves, but soldiers, British soldiers, Clipton, even in captivity!
Colonel Nicholson
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You and Colonel Nicholson, you're two of a kind, crazy with courage. For what? How to die like a gentleman... how to die by the rules - when the only important thing is how to live like a human being!
Major Shears
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The Bridge on the River Kwai is a 1957 World War Two POW film about the construction of the bridges over the River Kwai, although it's heavily fictionalised. It's based on a French novel The Bridge over the River Kwai by Pierre Boulle.

A British battalion is captured in Thailand and sent to a Japanese prison camp run by Colonel Saito. Notable among the prisoners is the battalion's commander, Lt. Colonel Nicholson, and Major Clipton, a medical officer.

The prisoners of war are being forced to build the bridge over the River Kwai, which when finished is supposed to help Japanese expansion. Saaito tries to demoralize the British troops, but fails because of Values Dissonance. Nicholson decides to keep everyone's morale up by making sure everyone does as good a job on the bridge as possible, making it the best bridge they can.

Meanwhile, the British government is planning a covert mission to blow that bridge up, since its existence will help the Japanese. They draft an American, Shears, into their effort (he has two valid excuses which, together, the Brits had already used to get him transferred to them). Shears, along with Major Warden and Lieutenant Joyce, parachute into the jungle and find their way to the bridge. They secure dynamite, but things go wrong quickly.

This film is either a true tragedy or the blackest of Black Comedy.

It's best known for its Theme Tune, the pre-existing "Colonel Bogey March" (which is far better known to nearly every Brit - including those at the time - for a set of lyrics to the tune about the lack of genitalia of certain senior Nazis). But the film itself is a classic; it earned its Oscars, including best actor for Alec Guinness, best director for David Lean, and best picture.


This movie contains examples of:[]