The Bridge on the River Kwai

Name: The Bridge on the River Kwai
Genre: Adventure, Drama, War
Released: December 14, 1957
Duration: 161 min
Rating: 88
Cast: Alec Guinness, André Morell, Geoffrey Horne, Jack Hawkins, James Donald

1957

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 16 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 90 Ratings

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8.3

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8.3	User Score Universal acclaim based on 90 Ratings

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The Bridge On The River Kwai

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Movie Details & Credits

Columbia Pictures | Release Date: December 14, 1957 | TV-PG

Starring: Alec Guinness, André Morell, Geoffrey Horne, Jack Hawkins, James Donald, John Boxer, Percy Herbert, Peter Williams, Sessue Hayakawa, William Holden

Summary: After settling his differences with a Japanese PoW camp commander, a British colonel co-operates to oversee his men's construction of a railway bridge for their captors - while oblivious to a plan by the Allies to destroy it.

Director: David Lean

Genre(s): Adventure, Drama, War

Rating: TV-PG

Runtime: 161 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Staff (Not Credited)

It is a whale (2 hr. 41 min.) of a story, and in the telling of it, British Director David Lean (Brief Encounter, Great Expectations) does a whale of a job. He shows a dazzlingly musical sense and control of the many and involving rhythms of a vast composition. He shows a rare sense of humor and a feeling for the poetry of situation; and he shows the even rarer ability to express these things, not in lines but in lives. Most important of all, he understands the real nature of the story he is telling. Read full review

100

Almar Haflidason

Director David Lean achieves a fine balance of creating complex characters from a fine cast, while keeping the pace up throughout this long movie. Read full review

100

TV Guide Magazine Staff (Not Credited)

This intelligent and exciting WWII tale, masterfully helmed by Lean (at the start of his "epic" period), features a splendid performance from Guinness as Col. Nicholson, a British officer who has surrendered with his regiment to the Japanese in Burma in 1943. Read full review

100

Bosley Crowther

Brilliant is the word, and no other, to describe the quality of skills that have gone into the making of this picture, from the writing of the script out of a novel by the Frenchman Pierre Boulle, to direction, performance, photographing, editing and application of a musical score. Read full review

100

Empire Ian Nathan

Possibly Lean's most complicated movie, Kwai is a towering work. Read full review

Josh Larsen

Lean stages the events with an expert sense of suspense, then leaves us wondering what to make of the mythologizing that came before. Was all that whistling really the sound of legendary British resolve, or were those soldiers only whistling past their own graveyard? Read full review

Dave Kehr

For what it is, it ain't bad, though it serves mainly as an illustration of the ancient quandary of revisionist moviemakers: if all you do is systematically invert cliches, you simply end up creating new ones. Read full review

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User Reviews

moviefan23u429u

May 28, 2023

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Amazing movie! Well done directing pacing. The themes are as simple as one in a fable. We see Guinness's character more focused on the bridge rather than on his mission. It is these simple lessons that we must learn from great films like this. Alec Guinness did really well in his performance as Colonel Nicholson. The pacing is managed very well. A very good movie that must be watched… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

alejandro970

May 8, 2020

The epic WW2 movie about a bunch of British P.O.W and their efforts to built a bridge and the efforts of a bunch of bold allied soldiers to bring it down and change the course of war. One of essentials of genre.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

MrJimmy

Dec 18, 2021

This film is a thoroughly enjoyable watch, full of great characters, performances and iconic moments. Although only loosely based on true events it certainly gives a perspective of what it was like for P.O.W'S and there captures.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

amheretojudge

Sep 17, 2018

a calculative allegory that symphonizes higher concept..

The Bridge On The River Kwai The Bridge On The River Kwai is a character driven war drama about a men with principles standing against the antagonist's camp as a protest with a never yielding spirit. The self-righteousness and moralea calculative allegory that symphonizes higher concept..

The Bridge On The River Kwai

The Bridge On The River Kwai is a character driven war drama about a men with principles standing against the antagonist's camp as a protest with a never yielding spirit. The self-righteousness and morale conflicts is crafted with such nuance in here that the viewers never even questions it for once. And which then, breeds this portal of inner politics and torture and plethora of tactics like such, to convince and win over them in this mind game. The head to head arguments and political debates brewed among a pragmatic and brilliantly weaved conversations are electrifying to encounter on screen. Being aware of the innocence that these characters and brave tale is brimmed with, the makers easily draws out emotions from the audience that can easily melt you down. It is rich on technical aspects like background score, cinematography, editing and stunning camera work. Holden's practical and subtle portrayal is actually more than plausible but since the range offered to it, isn't as wide as Guinness's character that not only is given much more range and space but is also impressive as he flaunts it with such panache. The adaptation is smart and gripping despite of ticking for almost there hours, it contains a potentially jagged script. Lean's execution is always, layered and thought provoking where he takes its time eschewing the characters appropriately. The subjective procedure in here isn't crowded but competent and even busy that keeps the audience tangled in its chaotic and political war. Harrowing and mesmerizing images that shows both the aspects of the nature, inner politics in a camp and Guiness at the heart of it that fuels this war drama are the high points of the feature. The Bridge On The River Kwai is a calculative allegory that symphonizes higher concept through one's most simplistic nature.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

The3AcademySins

Feb 17, 2018

The Bridge on the River Kwai is an excellent film, that says a lot more about the state of Hollywood in the time it was filmed than about World War II. There is some really stunning cinematography and beautiful acting, and this movie is just as worthy of accolades now as it was back in theThe Bridge on the River Kwai is an excellent film, that says a lot more about the state of Hollywood in the time it was filmed than about World War II. There is some really stunning cinematography and beautiful acting, and this movie is just as worthy of accolades now as it was back in the day. There are a lot of errors in terms of realism and how characters would have acted and felt about the war, but that is kind of to be expected in a 1950s film. If you love classic movies, this is definitely one you should check out!… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

royalguy07

Feb 13, 2023

Alec Guinness masterclass, control and command in every scene. The last 20 minutes is absolutely awesome.

Drinking game where you drink every time they say "good show" would be rough.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Broyax

Sep 4, 2018

Un grand film de guerre ou plutôt sur la guerre et ses contingences, à savoir celle notamment d'un camp de prisonniers où l'on se demande parfois qui sont les prisonniers et qui sont les geôliers... Car si le Japonais est rigide et inflexible, l'Anglais est perfide et sournois. L'Anglais estUn grand film de guerre ou plutôt sur la guerre et ses contingences, à savoir celle notamment d'un camp de prisonniers où l'on se demande parfois qui sont les prisonniers et qui sont les geôliers... Car si le Japonais est rigide et inflexible, l'Anglais est perfide et sournois. L'Anglais est également flegmatique et entre dans le camp au pas cadencé en sifflotant, très soucieux des apparences et de... l'honneur ou quelque chose comme ça.

On se demande donc si c'est du lard ou du cochon, du pudding ou du sushi... sans doute un peu des deux, mon colonel. Le Japonais m'a d'ailleurs l'air un peu mou du genou, voire dépressif : moi, j'aurais commencé par faire un exemple et procédé à une décapitation au katana de quelques volontaires involontaires choisis au hasard. Après tout, le colonel nippon (ni mauvais) se balade toujours avec son coupe-chou...

Tout cela est un peu drôle donc mais en même temps très sérieux et solennel, surtout que David Lean connaît son affaire pour donner de la grandeur à ses plans : il utilise le cinémascope comme personne mais aussi malheureusement une épouvantable "nuit américaine"... Les acteurs pour leur part sont excellents, le fameux trio Guinness-Holden-Hawkins fait des merveilles, l'acteur japonais également d'ailleurs. Holden qui est bien plus que le ballâtre de service qu'on aurait pu craindre, grâce à son personnage inattendu en fin de compte.

Hélas, mille fois hélas, le film souffre d'un gros problème de rythme dans son dernier tiers : tout-à-coup, il se met à pédaler dans la semoule et fait du surplace : on a alors qu'une envie, lui donner un gros coup de pied au cul avec l'avance rapide de la télécommande. Mais ce n'est pas tout : tandis que la fin daigne arriver enfin, celle-ci se ridiculise et le colonel anglais fait n'importe quoi parce que dans le scénario, on a fait n'importe quoi. Je doute que la fin du bouquin de Pierre Boulle soit aussi... grotesque.

En conclusion, nous avons là un beau film mais qui s'égare beaucoup trop dans ses longueurs et sa fin désordonnée. Dommage, j'ai bien rigolé au début mais aussi au milieu lorsqu'Hawkins manipule si perfidement (c'est-à-dire si britanniquement) Holden l'Américain.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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