Director David Lean did not know how to do anything on a small scale. His films were filmed on location and epic in scope and The Bridge on the River Kwai, his 1957 Best Picture and Best Director winning tale of madness in a Japanese prison camp, may be his grandest of all. The movie opens in the encampment in Ceylon as a new unit of British captives are led in by Col. Nicholson (Oscar winning Alec Guiness). A longtime captive played by William Holden looks on with amazement and disbelief as the colonel engages with the commander of the camp over the commander's infractions of the Geneva Convention, including having the officers perform manual labor. After the colonel perseveres after being subjected to torture, he finds it his personal duty to oversee the completion of the title bridge, which he sees as a morale booster. Meanwhile, Holden's character has escaped and been recruited by a British outfit trying to destroy an ammunitions train and the very bridge Colonel Nicholson has devoted himself and his unit to complete! The Bridge on the River Kwai is a blockbuster action picture and grand entertainment, the likes of which is scarcely scene today. It is also a wonderful study of madness embodied in the characters of Col. Nicholson, the Japanese commander, and the British officer who cares nothing except for his mission to blow up the bridge. Guiness and Holden are also pitch perfect in their roles. David Lean has crafted an expansive film that is great on many levels and still superior to the action filmmakers of today with unlimited CGI and special effects at their disposal.
