Bridge On The River Kwai
In many ways a clear inspiration for Apocalypse Now, David Leanās WWII epic from 1957 suffers from a bit of schizophrenic storytelling with its desire to split its primary scenes between its two lead actors with mixed results. On one hand, we have Alec Guinness, brilliant and peerless as a British Colonel and POW of the Japanese who engages in a battle of wills with the Japanese commanding officer (Sessue Hayakawa, just as good) over following the rules of the Geneva Convention in the treatment of prisoners, namely allowing British officers to actually supervise the construction of a bridge for the Japanese military to transport supplies for them to the front lines. The acting and writing is gripping in the first half, as Hayakawa (the first ever Asian movie star, back in the silent days) professes his hatred of his prisoners and subjects Guinness to an extended stay in the āovenā, finally breaking when his own men overseeing the project prove to be incompetent. The other lead character, played by William Holden, is an American officer who eventually escapes, makes it back to his own forces, and then (much to his chagrin) is ordered to go back to the prison camp with a small team of commandos and destroy the bridge. The setup of Holdenās mission, and their trek through the jungle, is what takes up much of the second half, while Guinness and Hayakawa are reduced mostly to side characters until the conclusion. Part of the problem is the pacing at this point, as the less interesting group of characters seem to take forever to get back, amongst arguments and conflicts and flirtations with the Siamese girls accompanying them, and Holden himself comes off as your typical headstrong āmaverickā American character when it comes to his disagreements with the British officers. That (plus a twist about his military status) makes him a bit less appealing than he should be. The real hook of the film remains Guinness, whom, after assuming command of the construction, turns almost into an obsessed brownie hound, determined to build the greatest bridge possible to prove the superiority of Western engineering while ensuring his men get the best treatment possible, all the while forgetting that he is actually zealously aiding and abetting the enemy, and can even possibly be seen as a traitor. This irony instilled in the character is projected marvelously by Guinness, which obviously led to his Best Actor Oscar win (along with six other wins, including Picture, Director, and Screenplay). I could have done without seeing these proper British soldiers of the early 40s celebrate their work with a fucking drag queen show, and much of Holdenās part of the story could have been trimmed down, but the ending retains much of its power even today in the era of CGI. Overall, while not quite the super-great masterpiece many have made it out to be, still an essential piece of viewing for those looking to get into the classicsā¦
7/10