The Bridge on the River Kwai, Kanchanaburi, Thailand - Travel Desperate, he uses the anniversary of Japan's 1905 victory in the Russo-Japanese War as an excuse to save face; he announces a general amnesty, releasing Nicholson and his officers and exempting them from manual labour. Some of the characters in the film use the names of real people who were involved in the Burma Railway. Wise: "I never heard it in Thailand. The US was beginning to control the sea lanes, making it increasingly difficult for Japanese shipborne cargo to reach the army dotted across the Pacific. Realising he has no choice, Shears volunteers. 16- "You make me sick with your heroics! Read the response of the CWGC to the findings of the Special Committee. The Burma-Siam Railroad and the Bridge over the River Kwai Guide The Bridge on the River Kwai is a British 1957 movie from Columbia Pictures, based on Pierre Boulle's 1952 book The Bridge over the River Kwai (French: Le Pont de la Rivire Kwai). Take a look below for 28 more fun and interesting facts about The Bridge on the River Kwai. [13], Many directors were considered for the project, among them John Ford, William Wyler, Howard Hawks, Fred Zinnemann, and Orson Welles (who was also offered a starring role). It was set up at the beginning of the Burma-Siams construction. In 1957 the movie, The Bridge on the River Kwai, premiered in London and became the biggest grossing film of 1958, winning seven academy awards in the process, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Musical Score, Best Cinematography and Best Editing.Not bad for a movie that is largely a work of almost entirely fictional characters and a story which . All but a small section of the route was built in dense, malarial jungles, in sweltering heat and monsoon rains. Just two months later, Lieutenant Lamb was dead. The bridge they build will become a symbol of service and survival to one prisoner, Colonel Nicholson, a proud perfectionist. Madness!" So go the tragic final words of David Lean's The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), a spectacular and deeply-moving WWII adventure film that still entertains and challenges over sixty years later. He insisted that Lean add a scene where Shears, the American played by William Holden, cozies up to a nurse (Ann Sears). In fact, two bridges were built: a temporary wooden bridge and a permanent steel/concrete bridge a few months later. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Roger Ebert focused on the symbolism of the bridge in this 1999 description: "[The war] narrows down to a single task, building a . Shears, who is a British commando officer like Warden in the novel, became an American sailor who escapes from the POW camp. 6. The movie garnered seven Academy Awards, including that for best picture, as well as three Golden Globe Awards and four BAFTA awards. Shears tries to get out of the mission by confessing that he impersonated an officer, hoping for better treatment from the Japanese. The railway ran for 250 miles from Ban Pong, Thailand to Thanbyuzayat, Burma and is now known as the Death Railway. His first epic was his twelfth film: The Bridge on the River Kwai, starring Alec Guinness and William Holden as P.O.W. This way, he remained oblivious to the real nature of his characters fate. Following the raids, Thanbyuzayat was evacuated. Death Railway was bombed heavily by the Allies from 1943 onwards. Both the wooden and the adjacent steel bridge were subjected to numerous air raids between January and June 1945. In the meantime, Shears manages to escape. Take a look below for 28 more fun and interesting facts about The Bridge on the . But Laughton, a fine actor with such credits as The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) on his resume, was in poor physical shapegreat for playing the corpulent Henry VIII in Young Bess (1953), not so great for playing a British military officer in a prison camp. Nicholson advises Saito that the officers cannot be required to do manual labour according to the Geneva Convention. It was released in the US on December 14, 1957, taking in a reported $17M+, which made it the highest-grossing film of 1957. For many, its their first exposure to the horrors prisoners of wars suffered in the Far East. 20. They would work in appalling conditions, given minuscule amounts of food, snatches of sleep, and little to no medical treatment. While the British prisoners celebrate their accomplishment that night, the commandoes wire the bridge with explosives to be detonated by a plunger operated by a hidden soldier, timed to collapse the bridge just as an inaugural train carrying Japanese dignitaries is crossing it. train on the bridge over the river kwai in kanchanaburi, thailan - bridge over the river kwai stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images FLOATING HOUSES ON THE RIVER KWAI, KANCHANABURI, THAILAND. Beijing Kwai Technology Co.'s app Kuaishou, or Kwai, is arranged for a photograph on a smartphone in Hong Kong, China, on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018.. Why visit the Bridge on the River Kwai | Audley Travel Chungkai was also a POW worker base camp. Tracy had read the book and told Spiegel emphatically that the part must be played by an Englishman. Contact us, Image: Rows of graves at Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, Image: Kanchanaburi Dutch Memorial commemorates Dutch POWs who died building Death Railway, Image: Chungkai War Cemetery's Cross of Sacrifice, Image: The Pavilion at Chungkai War Cemetery, Image: The cemetery's horticulture gives Chungkai a sense of serenity, Image: The Stone of Remembrance at Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery, Image: Headstones and horticulture at Thanbyuzayat, Get the latest CWGC news and see some of our recent work, Report of the Special Committee to review historical inequalities in Commemoration, Discover world war casualties who lived in your area, The True Story of the Bridge over the River Kwai, Why and how were restoring the Menin Gate: What you need to know about this amazing project, A push through the desert: How The Allies Captured Jericho in 1918, Visit Commonwealth war graves in Arras, France. In particular, they objected to the implication presented in the film that Japanese military engineers were generally unskilled at their profession and lacked proficiency. There are tourist trains to Nam Tok stopping at stations in between daily from the River Kwai Bridge station at 06.05, 11.00 and 14.30. What is it that makes the film 'The Bridge on the River Kwai' such an Guinness regarded this one tiny scene as some of the finest work he did throughout his entire career. The Bridge on the River Kwai. Bridge on the River Kwai | touristbangkok.com | Kanchanaburi in Thailand Leadership Lessons from The Bridge Over the River Kwai - LinkedIn Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Get information about our funding, our Customer Charter and our Strategic Plan. Explore the story of the CWGC, from our formation during the First World War to our work today. As shown in the movie, Guinness played the scene without flinching. 18. Want to work for the CWGC? Goering She retired Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Leadership Analysis: The Bridge On The River Kwai. Prisoners, including the sick, were marched to camps further along Death Railway. The Bridge on the River Kwai - Anzac Portal He served as an adviser during the making of the movie. The Bridge on the River Kwai, Kanchanaburi 1942. The two did not collaborate on the script; Wilson took over after Lean was dissatisfied with Foreman's work. The story is fictional but uses the construction of the Burma Railway, in 1942-1943, as its historical setting, and is partly based on Pierre Boulle's own life experience working in Malaysia rubber . Servicemen who survived the death marches, appalling working conditions, and savage treatment by their guards thought the film nor book reflected the realities of their experience. In 1941 the Japanese Army invaded Thailand. On 16 October 1943, the two ends of the Burma-Thailand railway were joined at Konkoita in Thailand. When Columbia Pictures read the script for Kwai, it was concerned that the story was too much about men and had no love interest. The Bridge on the River Kwai: The explosive bridge (HD CLIP) The Bridge on the River Kwai Facts for Kids. Chungkai War Cemetery is something of a sister site to Kanchanaburi. David Lean, a British director then in his late forties, had made 11 films, including well-received adaptations of Charles Dickens (Great Expectations, Oliver Twist) and Noel Coward (Blithe Spirit, Brief Encounter). Thanbyuzayat is in Myanmar. Neither of them got credit, though, as The Bridge on the River Kwai was released during the three-year period when people who'd ever been Communists (or who refused to answer questions about it before Congress) were ineligible for Academy Awards. Spiegel sent the screenplay to the Japanese government ahead of time, hoping to get their cooperation with the production. [3] Since it was not a documentary, there are many historical inaccuracies in the film, as noted by eyewitnesses to the building of the real Burma Railway by historians.[30][31][32][33]. BRIDGE ON RIVER KWAI - Shore Leave - Model Ship World The region was seized by the Japanese in 1942, and they then set about making preparations . As the train approaches, Nicholson frantically pulls up the wire, following it to find the detonator. A train carrying important dignitaries and soldiers is scheduled to be the first to cross the bridge the following day, and Warden wants to destroy both. Clipton objects, believing this to be collaboration with the enemy. Colonel Saito, the camp commandant, informs the new prisoners they will all work, even officers, on the construction of a railway bridge over the River Kwai that will connect Bangkok and Rangoon. Read our Cookie Policy, Terms & Conditions and Data Protection & Privacy Policy. It was the highest-grossing film of 1957 and received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics. In 1985, the Academy officially recognized Foreman and Wilson as the screenwriters and posthumously awarded the Oscar to them. Although unconvinced of its merits, Lean agreed to include Shears affair with a British nurse. Unique to this film, in some ways, were other issues related to poorly made optical dissolves, the original camera lens and a malfunctioning camera. The Bridge Over the River Kwai won seven Academy Awards (including Best Picture) in 1958. [31] He strongly denied the claim that the book was anti-British, although many involved in the film itself (including Alec Guinness) felt otherwise.[36]. Tickets are 100 baht. Chandran Rutnam and William Holden while shooting The Bridge on the River Kwai. Let's talk about British Food! ", Warden fires a mortar, killing Shears and Joyce and fatally wounding Nicholson. He, Shears, and Joyce reach the river in time with the assistance of Siamese women bearers and their village chief, Khun Yai. 12. The Bridge Over the River Kwai. The film is a work of fiction but borrows the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942-43 for its historical setting. After Guinness was done with the scene, Lean said, "Now you can all fuck off and go home, you English actors. Although the Death Railway has never again reached the Myanmar border, a shorter stretch was reopened by Thailand's railway authorities between 1949 and 1958, and trains on this modern-day line cross the infamous Bridge on the River Kwai. Persuaded that the film would be about the horror and folly of war, the Japanese government sent a military adviser to help with the camp scenes. Cutting the base board 1190 x 160 x 12 mm. The bridge construction is going badly, however, and Saito offers concessions to Nicholson in an effort to get the structure completed on schedule. [51] Time magazine praised Lean's directing, noting he demonstrates "a dazzlingly musical sense and control of the many and involving rhythms of a vast composition. Save up to 50% on Thailand River Cruises August 2024. The Bridge On The River Kwai is the World War II Oscar winner about an Army colonel (Alec Guinness) obsessed with proving British superiority over his Japanese captors by showing that his . Its telling that the railway workers had to see to their own medical care. "[47] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 87 out of 100 based on 14 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". 25 The Bridge on the River Kwai Trivia Questions & Answers TakeMeTour's Review. Bandaranaike, then Prime Minister of Ceylon, and a team of government dignitaries. As Ashton explained, it was so cheap because "we used local labor and elephants; and the timber was cut nearby.". Nicholson yells for help, while attempting to stop Joyce from reaching the detonator. Laughton was in his habitually overweight state, and was either denied insurance coverage, or was simply not keen on filming in a tropical location. Nicholson's obsession with the bridge eventually drives him to allow his officers to volunteer to engage in manual labor. Pitted against the warden, Colonel . He wanders into a Burmese village, is nursed back to health, and eventually reaches the British colony of Ceylon. US Navy Commander Shears tells of the horrific conditions. 's working to build and/or destroy a bridge for the Japanese during World War II. They are joined by approximately 1,850 Dutch casualties and one non-war grave. The Bridge on the River Kwai, British-American war film, released in 1957 and directed by David Lean, that was both a critical and popular success and became an enduring classic. [65], On 2 November 2010 Columbia Pictures released a newly restored The Bridge on the River Kwai for the first time on Blu-ray. Bridge Over The River Kwai Address: Tha Makham, Kanchanaburi, Thailand. But poor old Goebbels Lets examine the history behind the film and the men who made it. Spiegel finally sent Michael Wilson to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), where Lean was in pre-production, and the two worked together to hammer out the final version. Kwai River Bridge history. The Bridge on the River Kwai | Moviepedia | Fandom [38] Some Japanese viewers also disliked the film for portraying the Allied prisoners of war as more capable of constructing the bridge than the Japanese engineers themselves were, accusing the filmmakers of being unfairly biased and unfamiliar with the realities of the bridge construction, a sentiment echoed by surviving prisoners of war who saw the film in cinemas. Death Railway: History of the Bridge on The River Kwai 28. The Colonel Bogey strain was accompanied by a counter-melody using the same chord progressions, then continued with film composer Malcolm Arnold's own composition, "The River Kwai March", played by the off-screen orchestra taking over from the whistlers, though Arnold's march was not heard in completion on the soundtrack. Concurrently, Shears, after a harrowing journey in which he nearly loses his life more than once, is rescued by the British and then required to lead a group of commandoes headed by Major Warden (Jack Hawkins) back to the POW camp that he escaped from in order to blow up the bridge. Then he hired Lean to directand Lean didn't like Foreman's version. The line passing through the scenic Three Pagodas Pass runs for 250 miles. Sri Lanka Filming Locations: The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957) Posted on July 17, 2017 by tokyofox. A make-up man was also badly injured in the same accident. 9. Toosey in fact did as much as possible to delay the building of the bridge. Ten Interesting Facts about The Bridge on the River Kwai - Anglotopia.net [18] The bridge in the film was near Kitulgala. 19. "[53], Among retrospective reviews, Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four stars, noting that it is one of the few war movies that "focuses not on larger rights and wrongs but on individuals", but commented that the viewer is not certain what is intended by the final dialogue due to the film's shifting points of view. Lets find out. Both bridges stood for two years and were destroyed by bombers in 1945. H- Thailand - The Bridge on the River Kwai | iTravel2Learn [5][6] It has been included on the American Film Institute's list of best American films ever made. 23. It had previously belonged to an Indian maharajah and had seen 65 years of active service. Subsequent releases of the film finally gave them proper screen credit. Weill you be in London for the Coronation in 2023? Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson have written the screenplay for this film. The Bridge on the River Kwai was widely praised, winning seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, at the 30th Academy Awards. He created the railroad. The actual name of "Bridge on the River Kwai", on the 258 mile long Burma Railway between Ban Pong, Thailand, and Thanbyuzayat, Burma, built from 1940-1944, was called Bridge 277. What I Learned From Watching: The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957 The rail link, however, would . 8. Full scale plan drawing for the main cantilever bridge design. A picture of the actual bridge over the River Kwai in June 2004. Copyright 2020 Tons Of Facts. Bridge on the River Kwai; the true story - Digger History [50] Edwin Schallert of the Los Angeles Times claimed the film's strongest points were for being "excellently produced in virtually all respects and that it also offers an especially outstanding and different performance by Alec Guinness. Himmler [41] According to Variety, the film earned estimated domestic box office revenues of $18,000,000[42] although this was revised downwards the following year to $15,000,000, which was still the biggest for 1958 and Columbia's highest-grossing film at the time. That evening, the officers are placed in a punishment hut, while Nicholson is beaten and locked in an iron box. Lean and his production designer, Donald Ashton, were in Ceylon months ahead of time to construct the film's title character (the bridge, not the river). He also didn't like hearing that he was Lean's second choice for the role, a fact made more awkward when he arrived in Ceylon and Lean greeted him with, "Of course, you know I really wanted Charles Laughton." In a prison camp, British POWs are forced into labor. Nicholson forbids any escape attempts because they were ordered by headquarters to surrender, and escapes could be seen as defiance of orders. Joyce, manning the detonator, breaks cover and stabs Saito to death. Its estimated around 16,000 Allied prisoners of war were killed during construction of the Burma-Siam Railway. The official credit was given to Pierre Boulle (who did not speak English), and the resulting Oscar for Best Screenplay (Adaptation) was awarded to him. The events depicted in the film, of a chaotic Commando raid and Lt. Col Nicholsons wounded body falling dramatically on the detonator and blowing the bridge up, are completely false. Sessue Hayakawa (1889-1973) was a Japanese-born actor who came to Hollywood in the very early days of cinemahis first short, The Typhoon, was made in 1914and quickly became a matinee idol, playing exotic villains and such. No visit to the Western Front is complete without a trip to The CWGC Visitor Centre. The Bridge on the River Kwai Facts for Kids - Kiddle (He didn't attend the Oscars, either.) Lean filmed the scene from behind Guinness and exploded in anger when Guinness asked him why he was doing this. The Bridge on the River Kwai Ceylon Guide In the film, Lt. Col Nicholson is seen collaborating with his captors, even under duress. [27] Gavin Young[28] recounts meeting Donald Wise, a former prisoner of the Japanese who had worked on the Burma Railway. The march was written in 1914 by Kenneth J. Alford, a pseudonym of British Bandmaster Frederick J. Ricketts. Its this structure, Bridge 277, that still stands and is a famous local tourist attraction. Lean liked that draft even less. These issues, running throughout the film, were addressed to a lesser extent on various previous DVD releases of the film and might not have been so obvious in standard definition.[67]. Around 3,100 Commonwealth Burma war graves can be found at Thanbyuzayat, alongside roughly 620 Dutch burials. Be the first one to write a review. David Lean's classic 1957 World War II movie Bridge on the River Kwai depicted the horrors endured by the Allied prisoners of war (POWs) forced to build the Thailand-Burma railway by the Japanese Imperial Army. - Colonel Saito, 'The Bridge on the River Kwai '. Workers died at a rate of 20 men per day. (Spiegel got a British military adviser to help with that side of things, too.). The cemetery itself is located just outside the town of Kanchanaburi at the point where the Kwai splits into the Mae Khlong and Kwai Noi rivers. This film is taken from a popular novel written by Pierre Boulle in 1952. In many tense, dramatic scenes, only the sounds of nature are used. The bridges were quickly repaired with the use of POW labour from the camp at Tha . "[57], Some Japanese viewers have disliked the film's depiction of the Japanese characters and the historical background presented as being inaccurate, particularly in the interactions between Saito and Nicholson. Bridges beyond the River Kwai | Michigan Today Lean only got $150,000 himself, but he always said Holden was worth it. The camp commander, Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa), informs the prisoners that they will all begin working on the building of a railway bridge the following day. Highly competent work is also done by William Holden, Jack Hawkins and Sessue Hayakawa". The railway route, which ran through Burma and Thailand, had been planned by the British. Parts of the Burma-Siam railway still stand. Only in 1984 did the Academy rectify the situation by retroactively awarding the Oscar to Foreman and Wilson, posthumously in both cases. Nicholson objects, informing Saito the Geneva Convention exempts officers from manual labour. (There were other verses, too, which treated in more depth the number, location, and status of Hitler's anatomy, but you get the idea.) Answer (1 of 7): David Lean made some excellent films His Dickens films of the 1940's are classic black and white versions of OLIVER TWIST and GREAT EXPECTATIONS He discovered color and the wide screen in the 1950's and 1960's Besides BRIDGE, Lean also did LAWRENCE OF ARABIA and DR ZHIVAGO Peo. Kanburi wasnt a work camp as such. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) is an epic World War II adventure/action, anti-war drama. The Bridge on the River Kwai is a 1957 World War II POW film directed by David Lean, about the construction of the bridges over the River Kwai, although it's heavily fictionalised.It's based on the French novel The Bridge over the River Kwai by Pierre Boulle, of Planet of the Apes fame; Boulle, who could neither read nor write English, was also credited for the screenplay adaptation due to . [66] The original negative for the feature was scanned at 4k (four times the resolution in High Definition), and the colour correction and digital restoration were also completed at 4k.