And this week's Friday night movie has been... The Bridge on the River Kwai!
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Best Picture Oscar winner no.: 30 (1957)
I've been wanting to see this movie for years but I never got around to it. I recall years ago I was discouraged through my father describing it as 'silly'. But not this time around....
So what makes this movie special? Well it is a unique entity in the war movie genre in that it seems less concerned with getting a commentary on warfare across and more interested in being a character driven piece. The characters are indeed complex, helped considerably by the cast playing them with standouts being Alec Guinness and Sessue Hayakawa. The scale is staggering - as befitting a David Lean film - and it's impressive to know that the crew built the bridge for real. Furthermore, the final twenty minutes are astonishing. If this was attempt to show what the big screen could do, as opposed to the small screen of TV sets, then mission well an truly accomplished.
Finally, was it as 'silly' as it was described to me? Well there were a few moments that did seem difficult to swallow but there rest of the movie is so strong that it makes such instances easier to forgive.
A classic without a doubt
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