The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

Regisseur:

David Lean

Drehbuchautor (WGA):

Pierre Boulle (novel)

Premierendatum:

2. Oktober 1957 (UK)

Genre:

Abenteuer | Drama | Kriegsfilm

Werbezeile:

It spans a whole new world of entertainment!

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Military | Japanese Army | Bridge Construction | Sword | Uniform

Filmpreise:

Won 7 Oscars. Another 23 wins & 5 nominations

Nutzerkommentare:

A powerful film experience

Besetzung

William Holden	...	Cmdr. Shears
Jack Hawkins	...	Maj. Warden
Alec Guinness	...	Col. Nicholson
Sessue Hayakawa	...	Col. Saito
James Donald	...	Maj. Clipton
Geoffrey Horne	...	Lt. Joyce
André Morell	...	Col. Green (as Andre Morell)
Peter Williams	...	Capt. Reeves
John Boxer	...	Maj. Hughes
Percy Herbert	...	Pvt. Grogan
Harold Goodwin	...	Pvt. Baker, Sick List Volunteer
Ann Sears	...	Nurse at Siamese hospital
Heihachiro Okawa	...	Capt. Kanematsu (as Henry Okawa)
Keiichiro Katsumoto	...	Lt. Miura
M.R.B. Chakrabandhu	...	Yai (as M.R.B. Chakrabandhu {Col. Broome})

Alternativ:

Brücke am Kwai, Die (Österreich) (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) [de]

Länge:

161 Min

Produktionsland:

UK | USA

Sprache:

Englisch | Japanisch | Thailändisch

Farbe:

Farbe (Technicolor)

Seitenverhältnis:

2.55 : 1

Tonverfahren:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) (RCA Sound System) | Dolby SR (re-release) | Mono (35 mm prints)

Altersfreigabe:

USA:PG (re-rating) (1991) | South Korea:12 | USA:Approved | Brazil:12 | Iceland:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Spain:T | UK:PG | West Germany:12 (w) | Sweden:15 | Canada:PG (Ontario)

Drehorte:

Ambepussa, Sri Lanka

Firma:

Horizon Pictures (II)

Dies und das:

Calder Willingham also worked on the script although he and David Lean didn't get on.

Pannen:

Geographische Fehler: Both scenes are wrong: the actual line would have been 1 metre gauge, as it connected existing Thai and Burmese metre-gauge routes.

Dialogzitate:

Nurse at Ceylon hospital: [both characters are on the beach, discussing the evening's plans] You're going to stand me up, aren't you?
Major Shears: You couldn't be further from the truth!

Bezüge zu anderen Titeln:

Verweis/Anspielung/Erwähnung in Marilyn Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing & Charm School (2005)

Soundtrack:

God Save the King

A powerful film experience

I heard a film critic once say that there really aren't "war movies"; there are only "anti-war" movies. I'm still not sure what I think of that claim, but having seen - The Bridge on the River Kwai- enough times in the past several years, I think I'm persuaded that it's at least half right. -Kwai-, I believe, is both a "war" and "anti-war" movie, and, in my view, it succeeds admirably at both.

There is almost no element of -Kwai- that is not praise-worthy. David Lean's direction is tight and evocative. The cinematography is great (even though the color seems increasingly drained in film versions that I have seen). The acting is top-notch. I honestly believe that this is Alec Guiness's best performance, and Sessue Hayakawa is also highly sympathetic and believable. William Holden and Jack Hawkins round out the cast nicely.

The musical score is also right on. Simply put, -Kwai- is an excellently constructed film made by people who obviously cared a great deal about it. As a result, the viewer comes to care a great deal about it as well.

Clearly -Kwai- is an anti-war film. There is no glorification here. War is brutal, period. It's brutality is not captured here in terms of gory carnage or senseless battles. Instead, the psychological dimension of brutality comes across clearly. Yet, -Kwai- also shows the resilience of the human spirit as well as its complexity. One is left wondering if participation in World War II not only psychologically brutalized the characters played by Guiness, Hayakawa, and Holden but also if it simultaneously uplifted them. The paradox is striking to me each time I view this film. War can act both as a positive and negative catalyst, and it can do both of these things at the same instant.

So, is -The Bridge on the River Kwai- a war movie or an anti-war movie? I think Lean clearly preferred the latter, but the subject matter and his approach to it may have landed somewhere in between.

Regardless, -Kwai- is a fantastic film experience and is not to be missed. It is, simply put, my very favorite film--bar none.