The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

The Bridge on the River Kwai takes place in a Japanese war camp during World War II. Held captive there are British ,and a few American, soldiers. The prisoners of war are given the task of completing a bridge across the Kwai River by a specific date. The Japanese forces will then use the bridge and railway to invade.

When the British officers refuse to work, as it is a part of the Geneva Conventions, the Japanese officer in charge of the camp imprisons the British officers in small cages for weeks. When no progress is being made to the bridge with only the British enlisted men working on it, the Japanese commanding officer has no choice but to free the British officers from their cages. The British officers then use their former knowledge of bridge building in India to construct a magnificent bridge across the Kwai River.

At the same time, an American soldier has escaped the camp and has found his way to a military base on the Allies side. He is asked to return to the area to aid in blowing up the bridge that may or may not be complete.

*Spoiler Alert* The final scenes are extremely tense as you aren't sure if the explosives and the Allies trying to bring down the bridge will be found. The British commanding officer leads the Japanese right to the men, who are on his side of the war, and causes them to be killed. As a result, he faints onto the trigger and brings the bridge he help build, down and into the river. Along with it, the Japanese train crashes in the river.

The work song the British soldier whistle throughout the movie is really famous. I knew it as a child thanks to the movie The Parent Trap (1960). I really like this movie. It was a good war film that was not too long or with boring segments. I also love British movies and Japanese culture so that was an added bonus for me.