AFI Top 100: #36
Another day, another war film crossed off the AFI's Top 100 list, I suppose. David Lean's war epic The Bridge on the River Kwai is a beautifully-shot, brilliantly-acted film that has nothing evidently wrong with it but one that just failed to keep my attention. The story presented here is very interesting and seeing a tale of survival and hope in the midst of a terrible war will never cease to be inspiring but I guess I have just become so numb to this type of storytelling at this point. I can clearly see how and why this has become one of the most famous and referenced war films of its era but I honestly found the script and Lean's direction to be far too slow for my own taste. Even though the film itself looks gorgeous and it is shot much differently than other war stories are, I just could not get past how much this movie lulls in certain sections. I found myself checking my phone during this movie a LOT and for an avid filmgoer like me who actually has an attention span, that is never really a good sign.
Help captive as POWs by Japanese forces, Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness) and his group of British soldiers are forced to build a bridge for them to use to transport people and supplies. When the American Navy finds out that the British are being held against their will, they send an undercover officer named Shears (William Holden) along with a group of skilled mercenaries to arm and detonate the bridge with a series of explosives. The script, penned by Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson and adapted from the novel by Pierre Boulle, does its job incredibly well. And by doing its job I mean providing a serviceable and inspiring story about the determination of the army to do good by its fellow countries. The writing itself was fine and there is nothing to complain about with how Foreman and Wilson handle this story but I just did not find the mission of blowing up a bridge too compelling. There are plenty of war films with much more exciting premises and while action does not necessarily equate to a good film, I just did not find this simple mission to be enough to carry an entire story. There were plenty of subplots showing the cruelty of other countries during this time and one regarding the coverups that even the American military forces can gloss over but the main plot just simply failed to keep my attention. It doesn't help that the film was almost three hours long, either, and I feel as if Lean's direction could have picked up the pace quite a bit. Despite the story not feeling too interesting, there is a lot to admire about how these writers handled the dialogue. The interactions between the different ranks of soldiers and how they were all placed on the same level as POWs were very engaging and I also thought that the exploration of how different cultures abided by the Geneva Conventions was fascinating. While it may not be entirely true or heightened for dramatic effect, there are still some shining parts of this script that kept it from becoming far duller.
The performances from Alec Guinness and William Holden are very solid and they definitely stood out as some of the best parts of the entire film. They carried such a unique dynamic because while they were both technically fighting against the Japanese, they also had two different goals in mind when it came to what was going to happen to the bridge. This fresh, inner conflict created one of the best parts throughout The Bridge on the River Kwai and I loved the way these two performers were able to embody their contrast. The cinematography from Jack Hildyard might have been my absolute favorite part of this film, however, as the movie itself was gorgeous. Typically, war films use bleak camerawork to really pound in the gruesomeness and ruthlessness of war, accompanied by depressing color grading. This film took a very different kind of approach, however, as the bright and vivid colors that Hildyard was able to capture blew me away. It must have been the cinemascope working well for him because I was in awe at the wide way he was able to portray this jungle. Very rarely do I see a cinematographer shoot a film set in nature or during a war and focus on the actual, beautiful nature of it all. The wildlife, forestry, and agriculture actually functioned as characters in this film and I adored how it was able to rise above just being part of the setting. Even though this film looked incredible and was interesting in little bursts, I do not think there was enough compression of the plot to make this story as good as it could have been. Lean's direction was fine and he handles the characters and actual story well but the pacing of this film was just tiring. I truly don't think there was enough interesting material to warrant 2 hours and 41 minutes of war film and I quickly grew aware of that. Peter Taylor's editing could have very easily helped to move along this story; while I understand that Lean probably wanted to show off his budget and massive array of beautiful shots, sometimes cutting something down more is much more beneficial and this is definitely one of those cases.
The Bridge on the River Kwai might boast an impressive budget and some serious cinematography talent but that never quite made up for the fact that I became uninterested very quickly. Holden and Guinness are both excellent and hold up this story with their energy very well but not enough to wow me like I had expected. I feel like this film is the epitome of when someone says that their boomer father is into boring war movies. I just could not get myself invested into this as much as other people have and while there is nothing wrong with this storytelling style, it just really, really isn't for me.
My Rating: ★★★
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