The Bridge on the River Kwai [2 Discs] [Blu-ray/DVD]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

The Bridge on the River Kwai opens in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in Burma in 1943, where a battle of wills rages between camp commander Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa) and newly arrived British colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness). Saito insists that Nicholson order his men to build a bridge over the river Kwai, which will be used to transport Japanese munitions. Nicholson refuses, despite all the various "persuasive" devices at Saito's disposal. Finally, Nicholson agrees, not so much to cooperate with his captor as to provide a morale-boosting project for the military engineers under his command. The colonel will prove that, by building a better bridge than Saito's men could build, the British soldier is a superior being even when under the thumb of the enemy. As the bridge goes up, Nicholson becomes obsessed with completing it to perfection, eventually losing sight of the fact that it will benefit the Japanese. Meanwhile, American POW Shears (William Holden), having escaped from the camp, agrees to save himself from a court martial by leading a group of British soldiers back to the camp to destroy Nicholson's bridge. Upon his return, Shears realizes that Nicholson's mania to complete his project has driven him mad. Filmed in Ceylon, Bridge on the River Kwai won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director for the legendary British filmmaker David Lean, and Best Actor for Guinness. It also won Best Screenplay for Pierre Boulle, the author of the novel on which the film was based, even though the actual writers were blacklisted writers Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson, who were given their Oscars under the table. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: ABC
• Number of Discs: 2
• Subtitle: Eng/Fre/Por/Spa/Ko/Th
• Aspect Ratio: 2.55:1
• Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo
• Features:
  • William Holden and Alec Guiness on the Steve Allen Show
  • Newly discovered archival audio of William Holden narrating the Bridge on the River Kwai premiere
  • Crossing the bridge: picture-in-graphics track

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Won Best Actor - 1957 (Alec Guinness)
•     Won Best Adapted Screenplay - 1957 (Pierre Boulle, Michael Wilson, Carl Foreman)
•     Won Best Cinematography - 1957 (Jack Hildyard)
•     Won Best Director - 1957 (David Lean)
•     Won Best Editing - 1957 (Peter Taylor)
•     Won Best Picture - 1957 (Sam Spiegel)
•     Won Best Score - 1957 (Malcolm Arnold)
•     Nominated Best Supporting Actor - 1957 (Sessue Hayakawa)

• American Film Institute

•     Won 100 Greatest American Movies - 1998

• British Academy of Film and Television Arts

•     Won Best British Actor - 1957 (Alec Guinness)
•     Won Best Film - Any Source - 1957 (David Lean)
•     Won Best Screenplay - 1957 (Pierre Boulle)

• Directors Guild of America

•     Won Best Director - 1957 (David Lean)

• Hollywood Foreign Press Association

•     Won Best Director - 1957 (David Lean)
•     Won Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama - 1957 (Alec Guinness)
•     Won Best Picture - Drama - 1957

• Library of Congress

•     Won U.S. National Film Registry - 1997

• National Board of Review

•     Won Best Actor - 1957 (Alec Guinness)
•     Won Best Director - 1957 (David Lean)
•     Won Best Picture - 1957
•     Won Best Supporting Actor - 1957 (Sessue Hayakawa)

• New York Film Critics Circle

•     Won Best Actor - 1957 (Alec Guinness)
•     Won Best Director - 1957 (David Lean)
•     Won Best Picture - 1957

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       William Holden - Shears
       Alec Guinness - Col. Nicholson
       Jack Hawkins - Maj. Warden
       Sessue Hayakawa - Col. Saito
       Geoffrey Horne - Lieutenant Joyce
       James Donald - Maj. Clipton
       Andre Morell - Col. Green
       Peter Williams - Capt. Reeves
       John Boxer - Maj. Hughes
       Percy Herbert - Pvt. Grogan
       Harold Goodwin - Pvt. Baker
       Ann Sears - Nurse
       Henry Okawa - Capt. Kanematsu

• Director:

  David Lean

• Producer:

  Sam Spiegel

• Screenwriter:

  Pierre Boulle

• Book Author:

  Pierre Boulle

• Screenwriter:

  Michael Wilson, Carl Foreman

• Cinematographer:

  Jack Hildyard

• Composer (Music Score):

  Malcolm Arnold

• Editor:

  Peter Taylor

• Art Director:

  Donald M. Ashton

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  John Cox

• Makeup:

  Stuart Freeborn, George Partleton

• First Assistant Director:

  Gus Agosti, Ted Sturgis

• Camera Operator:

  Peter Newbrook

• Production Manager:

  Cecil F. Ford

REVIEW:

• The Bridge on the River Kwai ranks as one of the greatest films of all time and arguably director David Lean's best film. At the heart of the film is the performance of Alec Guinness as the obsessively principled Colonel Nicholson. In a lesser film, his character might be simplified into a heroic martyr, but The Bridge on the River Kwai revels in its moral ambiguity: no significant character is either purely a hero or purely a villain. Filmed in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), the film features brutal prisoner-of-war work camps that are nonetheless considerably nicer than their historical counterparts, a good decision since it frees the audience to focus on the battle of wills, at first between Nicholson and Saito (Sessue Hayakawa), later between Shears (William Holden) and Warden (Jack Hawkins). The film's closing line ("Madness... Madness") is among the best-known and most enigmatic closings in screen history. The film received seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor (Guinness). ~ Richard Gilliam, Rovi