1950s

The Bridge on the River Kwai

A scene from The Bridge on the River Kwai. [Photo/Mtime]

The Bridge on the River Kwai is a 1957 World War II epic film directed by David Lean. The film was shot in present-day Sri Lanka, and the bridge in the film is located in Kitulgala, a small town in the west Sri Lanka.

The movie opens in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in Burma in 1943, where a battle of wills is raging between camp commander Colonel Saito and British colonel Nicholson. Saito insists that Nicholson orders his men to build a bridge over the river Kwai, which Nicholson refuses because the Geneva Conventions exempt officers from manual labor.

After setting his differences with Saito, for the sake of maintaining his men's morale, Nicholson co-operates to oversee his men's construction of the bridge while oblivious to a plan by the Allies to destroy it. On the final inspection, Nicholson spots the explosives placed by the Allies and brings it to Saito's attention. Seeing Allied commandos killed and shot mortally, Nicolson stumbles towards the detonator and collapses on the plunger, just in time to blow up the bridge and send the train hurtling into the river below.

The film won seven Academy Awards in 1957, including for Best Motion Picture, Best Director and Best Actor, and has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry, whose mission is to preserve American film heritage.