The destruction of the bridge as depicted in the film is also entirely fictional. Discussions over building a replica of the bridge are currently underway. Guinness later said that he subconsciously based his walk while emerging from "the Oven" on that of his eleven-year-old son Matthew,[14] who was recovering from polio at the time, a disease that left him temporarily paralyzed from the waist down. Toosey later defended him in his war crimes trial after the war, and the two became friends. What I Learned From Watching: The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) YouTube Video A video essay written, edited, and narrated by Tyler Knudsen about the production of “River Kwai” and some film … Shears is so appalled at going back he confesses he is not an officer; he impersonated one, expecting better treatment from the Japanese. The film uses the historical setting of the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942–1943. Recently, the Tourist Board of Sri Lanka has considered installing a replica of the bridge from the film to promote further interest in Kitulgala and its surrounding rainforests to visiting tourists. According to Columbia Pictures, they followed an all-new 4K digital restoration from the original negative with newly restored 5.1 audio. The Bridge On The River Kwai Film Facts. By daybreak the river level has dropped, exposing the wire connecting the explosives to the detonator. For example, a Sergeant-Major Risaburo Saito was in real life second in command at the camp. For the novel, see, 1957 World War II film directed by David Lean, American theatrical release poster, "Style A", A transcript of the interview and the documentary as a whole can be found in the new edition of John Coast's book, Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, 11th greatest British film of the 20th century, the highest-grossing film of 1957 in the United States and Canada, Best Screenplay – Based on Material from Another Medium, Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures, Best Sound Track Album, Dramatic Picture Score or Original Cast, AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition), "Complete National Film Registry Listing | Film Registry | National Film Preservation Board | Programs at the Library of Congress | Library of Congress", "New to the National Film Registry (December 1997) - Library of Congress Information Bulletin", "Flashback: A look back at this day in film history (, "How Father Brown Led Sir Alec Guinness to the Church", "links for research, Allied POWs under the Japanese", "The Colonel of Tamarkan: Philip Toosey and the, "Once-Stupendous-Now-Modest $2,700,000 Budget Kept Secret; 'River Kwai's' Sockfull Gross", "Balu Mahendra, who made his visuals speak, dies at 74", "Warren Buffett carries an American Express card and about $400 in cash", The Colonel of Tamarkan: Philip Toosey and the Bridge on the River Kwai, "Movies | Disc & Digital | Sony Pictures", "Wayne and Shuster Show, The Episode Guide (1954–1990) (series)", Lost and Found: The Story of Cook's Anchor, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama, National Board of Review Award for Best Film, New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Bridge_on_the_River_Kwai&oldid=992497779, Films featuring a Best Actor Academy Award-winning performance, Films featuring a Best Drama Actor Golden Globe winning performance, Films whose cinematographer won the Best Cinematography Academy Award, Films whose director won the Best Directing Academy Award, Films whose director won the Best Director Golden Globe, Films whose editor won the Best Film Editing Academy Award, Films whose writer won the Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award, Films that won the Best Original Score Academy Award, United States National Film Registry films, Films with screenplays by Michael Wilson (writer), Short description is different from Wikidata, Album articles lacking alt text for covers, Wikipedia articles with CANTIC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat-VIAF identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, $30.6 million (worldwide rentals from initial release), Best DVD Original Retrospective Documentary/Featurette, This page was last edited on 5 December 2020, at 16:08. An estimated 80,000 to 100,000 civilians also died in the course of the project, chiefly forced labour brought from Malaya and the Dutch East Indies, or conscripted in Siam (Thailand) and Burma. Wise: "I never heard it in Thailand. Both bridges were used for two years, until they were destroyed by Allied bombing. The commandant, Colonel Saito, informs them that all prisoners, regardless of rank, will work on the construction of a railway bridge over the River Kwai that will connect Bangkok and Rangoon. It's more appropriate - and much more fun - to take the train from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi and the Bridge on the River Kwai using the Death Railway itself. Attention! The documentary itself was described by one newspaper reviewer when it was shown on Boxing Day 1974 (The Bridge on the River Kwai had been shown on BBC1 on Christmas Day 1974) as "Following the movie, this is a rerun of the antidote."[32]. [37], The film was re-released in 1964 and earned a further estimated $2.6 million at the box office in the United States and Canada[38] but the following year its revised total US and Canadian revenues were reported by Variety as $17,195,000. The Bridge on the River Kwai is an epic World War II film directed by David Lean and based on the novel by Pierre Boulle. For him, its completion will exemplify the ingenuity and hard work of the British Army. ", The screenwriters, Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson, were on the Hollywood blacklist and, even though living in exile in England, could only work on the film in secret. Despite this, he won an Oscar and a Grammy. The film was made in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Over the protests of some of his officers, he orders Captain Reeves and Major Hughes to build a proper bridge, in order to maintain his men's morale and pride in their professionalism. The movie garnered seven Academy Awards, including that for best picture, as well as three Golden Globe Awards and four BAFTA awards. [10][11], The film was an international co-production between companies in Britain and the United States. [25][26] Some consider the film to be an insulting parody of Toosey. ABC, sponsored by Ford, paid a record $1.8 million for the television rights for two screenings in the United States. Discover this hidden gem set away from the crowds. Boulle based his novel, published in 1952, on his … Two labour forces, one based in Siam and the other in Burma, worked from opposite ends of the line towards the centre. [41], Roger Ebert gives the film four out of four stars. [52] The image was restored by OCS, Freeze Frame, and Pixel Magic with George Hively editing. The two did not collaborate on the script; Wilson took over after Lean was dissatisfied with Foreman's work. Directed by David Lean. As a result, Boulle, who did not speak English, was credited and received the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay; many years later, Foreman and Wilson posthumously received the Academy Award.[3]. Nicholson forbids any escape attempts because they were ordered by headquarters to surrender, and escapes could be seen as defiance of orders. When the bridge was built, the water beneath it was actually the Mae Klong River, although it did join the Khwae Noi River elsewhere. Alec Guinness, William Holden, Jack Hawkins, and Sessue Hayakawa. The fourth film in our blog series is ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’ (1957) directed by David Lean. The film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. [30], Lieutenant Colonel Philip Toosey of the British Army was the real senior Allied officer at the bridge in question. David Lean’s 1957 The Bridge On The River Kwai is an epic anti-war film. In reality, Risaburo Saito was respected by his prisoners for being comparatively merciful and fair towards them. Did he really want the enemy to come in across it?”[46], Some Japanese viewers disliked the film's depiction of the Japanese characters present in the movie and the historical background presented as being inaccurate, particularly in the interactions between Saito and Nicholson. We hadn't much breath left for whistling. The steel bridge was repaired and is still in use today. The filming of the bridge explosion was to be done on 10 March 1957, in the presence of S.W.R.D. I mean, at least not in my lifetime. Nicholson is shocked by the poor job being done by his men. Joyce, manning the detonator, breaks cover and stabs Saito to death. Spike from the Burma Railroad. Witnessing the carnage, Clipton shakes his head, muttering, "Madness! Subsequent releases of the film finally gave them proper screen credit. 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