The Bridge on the River Kwai story
The Bridge on the River Kwai is a 1957 epic war film directed by David Lean and based on the novel The Bridge over the River Kwai, written by Pierre Boulle. Boulle's novel and the film's screenplay are almost entirely fictional but use the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942–1943 as its historical setting.[3] It stars William Holden, Alec Guinness, and Jack Hawkins, with Sessue Hayakawa, James Donald, Ann Sears, and Geoffrey Horne in supporting roles.
21 total · 2 choice · 16 major · 3 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| obsession | choice | Incongruously, Colonel Nicholson became obsessed with building the best damn bridge he could for the Japanese military, even though they were mortal enemies of his own people. |
| Stockholm syndrome | choice | Colonel Nicholson was tortured for several days and nearly died without giving into the Colonel Saito's demands. When Saito relented and let him out in exchange merely for cooperation, Nicholson became obsessed with helping the Japanese military to the very best of his and his own men's ability. |
| clash of wills | major | Both Colonel Nicholson and Colonel Saito were exceedingly proud men, and others found it hard to see how the standoff between the two could end in anything but disaster. |
| coping with being tortured | major | Colonel Nicholson, along with his junior officers, were put in individual tiny little shacks to small to stand in and exposed to the blazing sun, making them incredibly hot. Their access to food, water and medicine was restricted. Colonel Saito sought to break their will to refuse manual labor. |
| cracking under pressure | major | Colonel Saito was under such pressure to finish the bridge on time that he very nearly lost it. In a notable scene, some of Saito's underlings dropped their jaws when they entered his lodgings and saw him threatening Colonel Nicholson with a carving knife. Colonel Saito would have had to commit ritual suicide should he fail to complete the bridge on time. |
| descent into madness | major | Colonel Nicholson was tortured for several days and nearly died without giving in to the pressure. When Colonel Saito relented and let him out in exchange merely for cooperation, Nicholson became obsessed with helping the Japanese to the very best of his and his men's ability. Major Clipton summed up Nicholson's conduct in the film's final line of dialogue when he said: "Madness". |
| human vs. captivity | major | Most of the story takes place in a Japanese prisoner of war camp in Thailand around February 1943. Colonel Nicholson and Shears clashed over whether escape was the best course of action. Nicholson reasoned that the PoWs best chance of survival rested in staying put in the camp. Shears, on the other hand, was convinced that staying amounted to certain death, and soon thereafter made a harrowing escape. |
| integrity | major | A striking feature Colonel Nicholson's psychology was his impeccable integrity. Notably, Nicholson was offered the opportunity by Colonel Saito to be exempted from manual labor in exchange for agreeing for his subordinate officers to be consigned to this fate. Nicholson stoically declined Saito's offer. |
| leadership | major | The loyalty inspiring and compassionate Colonel Nicholson was compared and contrasted with the ruthless Colonel Saito, who preferred to lead with threats and being feared. |
| military related work | major | Colonel Nicholson in particular was a career soldier. He reflected on his life and the fact that he had given more than half of it to the service. |