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Film · 1957 · Drama
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Directed by David Lean
1957
★ 8.2 editorial score
Lean built an epic about the seduction of a job well done: a British colonel in a Japanese prison camp finds a strange satisfaction in building their bridge properly.
“Despite its grand, Oscar-bait stature, the 1957 epic subtly develops its themes about the irrationality of honor and the hypocrisy of Britain's class system without ever compromising its thrilling war narrative. Whereas "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Doctor Zhivago" feel more pictorial than cinematic, "The Bridge on the River Kwai" carefully builds its psychological tension until it erupts in a blinding flash of sulfur and flame.”
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