The Bridge on the River Kwai

"It spans a whole new world of entertainment!"

1957 2h 42m EN

🙌

7.8

BANGER

🔥

96%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

8.1

IMDB

★7.8TMDB · 2,467🍅96%Rotten Tomatoes●88Metacritic★8.1IMDB · 247,433

DramaHistoryWar

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The classic story of English POWs in Burma forced to build a bridge to aid the war effort of their Japanese captors. British and American intelligence officers conspire to blow up the structure, but Col. Nicholson, the commander who supervised the bridge's construction, has acquired a sense of pride in his creation and tries to foil their plans.

“It spans a whole new world of entertainment!”

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Cast

William Holden
Cmdr. Shears
Alec Guinness
Col. Nicholson
Jack Hawkins
Maj. Warden
Sessue Hayakawa
Col. Saito
James Donald
Maj. Clipton
Geoffrey Horne
Lt. Joyce
André Morell
Col. Green
Peter Williams
Capt. Reeves

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: David Lean
Writers: Carl Foreman, Michael Wilson
Languages: Japanese, Thai, English
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 162 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $2.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $45M — a 16.0× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

69 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: Japanese, Thai, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by David Lean, shot by Jack Hildyard. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Original score by Malcolm Arnold. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Peter Taylor shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

David Lean directs. Jack Hildyard behind the camera. Malcolm Arnold scores. Peter Taylor cuts. A long sit — settle in. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in Japanese, Thai, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 162 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
2Shot for just $2.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
3Grossed $45M — a 16.0× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
469 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
5Dialogue crosses 3 languages: Japanese, Thai, English.
6Directed by David Lean, shot by Jack Hildyard. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Malcolm Arnold. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Peter Taylor shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9William Holden and Alec Guinness and Jack Hawkins carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "It spans a whole new world of entertainment!".
11IMDB entry: tt0050212 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 13 themes, including "japan", "based on novel or book", "resistance", "river".

The technical file

Cinematography: Jack Hildyard
Original score: Malcolm Arnold
Editing: Peter Taylor
Makeup / hair: Stuart Freeborn
Sound: John Cox
Runtime: 162 min · 2h 42m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $2,800,000
Box office: $44,908,000
Return: 1604% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Rotten Tomatoes: 96% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 88/100
IMDB rating: 8.1/10 · 247,433 votes
MPAA: PG

Awards

Won 7 Oscars. 30 wins & 7 nominations total

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
National Board of Review Award for Best Film
Academy Award for Best Film Editing
Academy Award for Best Cinematography
Academy Award for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay
Academy Award for Best Score, Adaptation or Treatment
Academy Award for Best Actor
Academy Award for Best Director
Academy Award for Best Picture

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

David Lean

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2016-07-31
★ 10/10
Colonel Bogey's Barmy Army. OK! Lets get it out there right away, for historical facts of the real Bridge on the River Kwai story, one should research elsewhere, this film is a fictionalised account of the said events. Sadly there are those out there who simply refuse to judge this purely as a piece of cinematic art - and cinematic art it is. A squad of British soldiers are held in a Japanese POW camp in the Burmese jungle. The respective Japanese and British leaders clash but an understanding is finally reached to build a bridge across the River Kwai. The importance of which could prove crucial in more ways than one... It won 7 Academy Awards and 4 BAFTAS, and it was the film that saw the great David Lean enter his epic period. And what a start it is. Kwai is a masterful piece of cinema, it has a magnificently intelligent and complex screenplay - with tough edged dialogue in the script, is bursting at the seams with high quality performances, and beautifully photographed (filmed in Ceylon). Thematically it's about the folly and psychological madness of war, which in turn is ensconced in sub - plots of genuine worth. It all builds to a tremendous finale, where everything we have witnessed is realised with a deftness of talent from across the board. 10/10

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