My binge on World War II films continues.
This is a complex, intricate film with two main plots occurring concurrently with each other.
Coronal Nicholson's (Alec Guinness's) troops have been ordered to surrender to the Japanese in Singapore and are now prisoners of war. They have orders from the Japanese officer Saito (Sessue Hayakawa, excellent) to build a bridge over the river Kwai so the railroad can be completed for troops to move around Burma (now Myanmar) easier. But according to the Geneva Convention generals cannot perform manual labor but Saito disregards that condition and orders everyone to work. Nicholson refuses and is nearly shot to death. Fortunately, probably the most sane person in the film, the doctor Clipson (James Donald) intervenes saying that there are too many witnesses as all of the men in sick bay will be able to see what happened. Nicholson is punished and put in an 'oven' boiling away in the heat but he refuses to compromise.
In the meantime, top-billed William Holdan is the lone American in the cast, Commander Shears who manages a daring escape, despite Nicholson's orders to stay put. Shears is almost shot and then jumps into the river, swimming away where he is eventually rescued. Once rescued, he is reassigned to the British army (he was formally with the American Navy) for a sabotage mission to destroy the bridge he would have helped build had he not escaped. Naturally, Shears just wants to return home and tries to get out of this assignment. After all, he isn't really a Commander, but in fact stole the identity of his commander whom he escaped with so his whole identity is a lie. But the British Officer Warden (Jack Hawkins) doesn't care so Shears is back in the army.
Back at the sight of the bridge, Saito finally gives in to Nicholson's demands and Nicholson more or less takes control, moving the position of the bridge to a better location and getting his men to work harder and faster building a far superior bridge, a higher quality than the ones the Japanese had designed. They are proud of their work.
But the bridge is behind deadline which means that Saito will have to kill himself as is the Japanese tradition, but under Nicholson's command, the officers contribute and even the sick are put on light duty, something which they would have never done for Saito.
Shears, Warden and the Canadian Joyce (Geoffrey Horne) set the explosives for blowing up the bridge only to have their efforts thwarted the morning the bridge will open as the river level dropped significantly overnight. Nicholson is the one who sees the string attached to the explosives and is livid that all of his hard work will literally go up in flames.
The ending is rather violent, with everyone but Warden and Clipson ending up deceased. Nicholson can't believe that Shears survived his escape but his presence forces Nicholson to realize the error of his ways. Dazed, he falls onto the trigger and the bridge blows up, taking the train with it. Clipson mutters "Madness, madness" as everything is destroyed.
Guinness is truly excellent as the officer who blindly follows orders even arguing with Clipson when Clipson believes that his actions are treasonous, he merely asks if a Japanese officer was ill and needed surgery, would Clipson purposely kill him? Of course he wouldn't, but that doesn't mean he understands why Nicholson does what he does.
Sadly, the film is prejudiced against the Japanese, believing that the British skills are far better than the ones of the Japanese. Still, most of the films of this area believed that the American or British way was far better than the native way.
Though the film is long and cuts back and forth sometimes choppily, it is nevertheless excellent, with a plot that forces you to think and wonder if Nicholson made the right decision. He is certainly stubborn and nearly dies as the result of his stubbornness. Hayawara is also brilliant and deserves more than the mere Oscar nomination he received. It is certainly one of the better World War II films and this one didn't need any battle scenes to keep your attention. Grade: A
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