Viewed: 19 July 2002
Directed by: David Lean
Listed in: Movies, Netflix

Excellent WWII P.O.W. movie. Funny that I should watch Stalag 17 then this. Damn Jerrys. Damn Wankers. Alec Guinness is Colonel Nicholson, who more or less needs to command his troops in productivity. So he goes a little crazy in the head and takes over the building of a railway bridge over the River Kwai. William Holden is an American G.I. (of course) who is the only successful escape from the P.O.W. camp. The British are mounting an expedition to destroy the bridge, and bring Holden along as a guide. The movie is extremely well done, and seems almost more then technically accurate. All the British speak proper English, at odds with Holden’s laid-back, scheming American ways. The Japanese speak an appropriate amount of Japanese, and know just enough English. This is very much a film of the 1960’s with its dramatic introduction of music and sometimes slow cuts. However it never lags, and I only found the music startling in the first half. All that being said, it really is a great film. Watching the failures of the bridge, then the lunacy of Colonel Nicholson as he improves and builds a bridge to last 600 years. Finally ending with his own realization of what he has done. Wonderful film, now whats the next war movie on the list?