Movie review: Bridge on the River Kwai

A scene from the movie leading up to it’s dramatic conclusion

The Bridge over the River Kwai (today)

Most would have heard of or even seen the movie, The Bridge on the River Kwai. It was based on the novel of the same name written by Pierre Boulle. The movie tells the story of the relationship between a British Colonel (Colonel Nicholson) in charge of a group of POWs and a Japanese Officer (Colonel Saito) in charge of the camp and with the responsibility of building a railway bridge across the River Kwai.

Without spoiling the story for you, the bridge building progam becomes a shamble. Its construction falls well behind the deadline and the morale of the POW’s becomes low. However, after being released from confinement after a disagreement with Colonel Saito, Colonel Nicholson sees the building of the bridge within the Japanese deadline as a way of restoring the morale of his men and gaining extra privileges for the POW’s in return. A rapport then develops between Nicholson and Saito. All this is done with the background of a group of commandos planning to trek through the jungle to destroy the bridge. The bridge was destroyed by the commandos but in reality, it was destroyed by allied air force bombers.

Bridge after bombing

It is thought that the ‘Colonel Nicholson’ character was loosely based on Colonel Toosey, a British Colonel in charge of the Tha Markham POW Camp where the bridge that is seen today, was built. In fact, Colonel Toosey was very different to Colonel Nicholson. He operated the camp with the respect of the POW’s and the Japanese and developed the art of treading a fine line between protecting his men and cooperating with the enemy.

Although the movie does not cover the harshness of the conditions or the inhumane treatment of the POW’s by the Japanese, it made a railway bridge, almost in the middle of nowhere, a major tourist attraction that it is today. Without the movie, the Burma-Thailand Railway may have only been known by those who endured its atrocities.

The movie is well worth a watch.