The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957)

In a WWII Japanese prison camp, a British Colonel (Alec Guinness in his Oscar winning role) insists that the Japanese commandant (Sessue Hayakawa) abide by the rules of the Geneva convention in regard to prisoners of war. This leads to a battle of wills between the two men with the Japanese commander finally acquiescing. The Colonel oversees the building of a bridge for the Japanese but his pride in his work interferes with his duty to his country during wartime. The winner of 7 Oscars including best picture, David Lean's film is an exploration of how courage and duty while admirable can lead to a misguided sense of right and wrong. I'm simplifying it of course, it's more complex than that but I think I'm on the right track. It's a wonderful film if directed by an ever so slightly heavy hand by Lean. I wish he'd trusted his audience more, the very ending with James Donald decrying "Madness! Madness!" seems a bit of overkill. Guinness is superb here as is Hayakawa and two of the film's more memorable scenes belong to them: Hayakawa trying to seduce Guinness into allowing his officers to do manual labor and a contemplative scene at sunset with the two actors after the bridge has been built. I could have done without Malcolm Arnold's hyperactive score which tin eared Academy voters awarded an Oscar to but Jack Hildyard's CinemaScope lensing takes full advantage of the lush Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) locations. With William Holden, Jack Hawkins, Geoffrey Horne, Andre Morell and Ann Sears.