THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI

UK, 1957, 161 minutes, Colour.
William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa, James Donald, Geoffrey Home, Andre Morell.
Directed by David Lean.

The Bridge on the River Kwai was the beginning of a new phase in David Lean's career: the mammoth, intelligent spectacles with which his name is constantly linked - Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965), and Ryan's Daughter (1970). Previously he had made such excellent films as Brief Encounter, Oliver Twist and Summertime.

The Bridge on the River Kwai also introduces a new phase of war film. Until the mid-50's the U.S. was gloriously refighting the war and the British were paying tribute to their heroes. Kubrick's Paths of Glory and Aldrich's Attack appeared at this time and Lean's criticisms of war and the waging and waste of war joined these and influenced the cinema-going public.

Alec Guinness won an Oscar for his performance as the principled Colonel Nicholson, a victim of his principles. The film and the director also won Oscars and the film won many international awards. Superb photography of Ceylon, some cogent dialogue and good performances make this an intelligent comment on war.

1. Was this film pro-war or anti-war? Why?

2. How important was the atmosphere, scenery and wide-screen scope for the film: how was the importance of the environment communicated?

3. What were your first impressions of the prison camp?

4. What impression did the British marching behind Nicholson, and whistling, make on you? How did this contrast with Shear and the burying of the dead prisoners? How did this symbolise some of the issues of the film?

5. What kind of man was Nicholson? He said he joined the army before World War I. How had the army moulded his life? How was he a typical army man? What were the good features of this? The bad?

6. what was the point of his stand on the Geneva Conference, on the officers' not working, on allowing the officers and, especially himself, to undergo the suffering in the oven?

7. Did you admire him or was he foolhardy?

8. Did Saito have the right to ignore the Geneva Convention? Was he cruel or was he just doing his duty?

9. What kind of man was Shear - in himself, when it was revealed who he really was? How did his opportunism, his American outlook, his yearning to escape contrast with the British? With Nicholson?

10. What role did Clapton take? As medical officer? As mediator with Saito? As commentator on what was going on?

11. How humiliating was Saito's losing face to Nicholson? How important was Nicholson’s stand and victory to the morale of the men, to himself?

12. Why did Nicholson take over, especially the bridge? Were his reasons for building the bridge - morale, boosting achievement for the men (contrasting with their shoddy work for the Japanese), its potential use after the war -good reasons? Were they the real reasons? How important were his own ambitions? Did he deceive himself? Why did he not take notice of Clapton?

13. How obsessed did Nicholson become with the Bridge - from the briefing meetings, to his supervision, to his asking the sick to work? In these instances was he any better than Saito who had wanted to do this?

14. How interesting was Shear's escape?

15. Did the interlude with Shear convalescing help the film - human interest, contrast with the jungle, show Shear's real choice in leaving this and going back to the jungle?

16. What kind of man was Warden? Why was he in this job? How did he persuade Shear to go~ What did this and the interview with Greene show of English attitudes and diplomacy?

17. Why was it necessary to destroy the bridge on the river Kwai?

18. How exciting was the going to the Kwai - endurance, relationships, the jungle, accidents, determination?

19. Shear said that Warden was as bad as Nicholson in the way they played heroics in war. Was he right? Why?

20. How important dramatically were the sequences prior to the blowing up of the bridge - the prisoners' concert, Nicholson's deep satisfaction, the culmination of his relationship with Saito, Saito's image of himself and the British building the bridge, the river going down, the discovery of the fuse?

21. How successful were the dramatics of the fighting and the blowing up of the bridge?

22. Why did Shear die? Of what value was his death? What was the effect of Shear and Warden's shouting desperately for Joyce to kill?

23. What was the effect of it all on Nicholson? Did he realise what he had done? Did he deliberately blow the bridge or did he accidentally fall on the detonator? Was this important?\

24. Did you share Clapton's comments on the purpose of it all, accompanied by shots of the debris floating down the river?

25. What was the ultimate message of the film?