THE ASTOR REVIEW

British soldiers in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp build a bridge as a futile exercise under the single minded leadership of British colonel Alec Guiness – while ally William Holden plots to destroy it. Psychological battle of wills combined with high powered action sequences make this an incredibly intense film. Winner of seven academy awards including best picture, best director, best actor.

IMDB SYNOPSIS

The film deals with the situation of British prisoners of war during World War II who are ordered to build a bridge to accommodate the Burma-Siam railway. Their instinct is to sabotage the bridge but, under the leadership of Colonel Nicholson, they are persuaded that the bridge should be constructed as a symbol of British morale, spirit and dignity in adverse circumstances. At first, the prisoners admire Nicholson when he bravely endures torture rather than compromise his principles for the benefit of the Japanese commandant Saito. He is an honorable but arrogant man, who is slowly revealed to be a deluded obsessive. He convinces himself that the bridge is a monument to British character, but actually is a monument to himself, and his insistence on its construction becomes a subtle form of collaboration with the enemy. Unknown to him, the Allies have sent a mission into the jungle, led by Warden and an American, Shears, to blow up the bridge.