The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
The Bridge on the River Kwai wrapped up a bunch of Academy Awards, but it’s such an overrated movie, I have no idea why it swept the season. Here at the Hot Toasty Rag Awards, only one category maintained its nomination: Sessue Hayakawa in Supporting Actor. Sessue plays the head of the Japanese POW camp. If you remember him from Three Came Home, you know that he brings a lot of depth to his roles. He made silent movies and was incredibly famous during the 1910s, and The Bridge on the River Kwai was the crowning jewel of his career. He was very proud to receive his Academy nomination, and I can only hope he was looking down during the Hot Toasty Rag ceremony, just as proud to win his award.
Besides Sessue, there are other people in the movie, but most of their scenes are so boring, it’s shocking. Most audiences take away two famous parts of the film: the music and the famous scene in the end, which I won’t describe for sake of spoilers. Even though Malcom Arnold won an Oscar for his music, the whistling of the “Colonel Bogey March” shouldn’t have been eligible for Original Music. Arnold wrote some counterpoint, but what he wrote isn’t memorable.
The crux of the one of the storylines is the stiff-upper-lip commander of the captured soldiers who solemnly believes his men should be treated honorably according to the Geneva Code. Sessue doesn’t care about it and puts Alec in a cramped outdoor metal box to break him. Alec triumphs, and he staggers out of the box to greet his cheering men, but it’s not very climactic. Director David Lean had a specific characterization in mind for Alec, and while Alec didn’t agree with it, he did what good actors do and followed instructions. How did Lean repay him? By insulting him, disrespecting him, and deliberately filming the back of his head during his most revealing monologue. How unprofessional.
The other storyline is so boring and uninteresting, the first time I watched the film I repeatedly fell asleep when William Holden was on the screen, and the second time I kept having to fast-forward his scene to stay awake. Bill and Jack Hawkins are trying to make their way to the prison camp, and the only purpose their screen time serves is to devalue Alec’s award for Best Actor. They make the movie a clear ensemble piece, making audiences wonder why Alec was placed in the leading category rather than the supporting. I usually dislike William Holden, and his performance in this film is why. He didn’t appear to have suffered through a prison camp for one minute, but instead smiled glibly, shouted his lines, and acted like a smart-aleck (no pun intended).
But back to Alec Guinness. For someone so talented with such varied roles in his career, it’s practically insulting that he won his Oscar for this movie. When you see him in Oliver Twist or The Prisoner, he’s unrecognizable from the wooden, dispassionate colonel. This movie doesn’t utilize one-quarter of his talent, but instead forces him to give a David Niven impression (in the worst sense). I’ve always thought Niven should have been in Kwai, since Alec’s performance felt as though he wondered how Phileas Fogg would behave in a prison camp.
Since this is a pretty famous movie to come out of the 1950s, you’ll probably want to watch it. Go ahead; don’t mind me. You’ll find out for yourself how unrealistic it is that the prisoners had energy to waste joking around and whistling. You’ll see that none of the actors appear to have missed a meal or a haircut. Unless you’ve never seen a war movie before, you won’t be impressed by this one.
Want to watch it? Click here to watch it on ok.ru. And thanks "Sonia SC" for posting!
More Alec Guinness movies here!
More William Holden movies here!
Besides Sessue, there are other people in the movie, but most of their scenes are so boring, it’s shocking. Most audiences take away two famous parts of the film: the music and the famous scene in the end, which I won’t describe for sake of spoilers. Even though Malcom Arnold won an Oscar for his music, the whistling of the “Colonel Bogey March” shouldn’t have been eligible for Original Music. Arnold wrote some counterpoint, but what he wrote isn’t memorable.
The crux of the one of the storylines is the stiff-upper-lip commander of the captured soldiers who solemnly believes his men should be treated honorably according to the Geneva Code. Sessue doesn’t care about it and puts Alec in a cramped outdoor metal box to break him. Alec triumphs, and he staggers out of the box to greet his cheering men, but it’s not very climactic. Director David Lean had a specific characterization in mind for Alec, and while Alec didn’t agree with it, he did what good actors do and followed instructions. How did Lean repay him? By insulting him, disrespecting him, and deliberately filming the back of his head during his most revealing monologue. How unprofessional.
The other storyline is so boring and uninteresting, the first time I watched the film I repeatedly fell asleep when William Holden was on the screen, and the second time I kept having to fast-forward his scene to stay awake. Bill and Jack Hawkins are trying to make their way to the prison camp, and the only purpose their screen time serves is to devalue Alec’s award for Best Actor. They make the movie a clear ensemble piece, making audiences wonder why Alec was placed in the leading category rather than the supporting. I usually dislike William Holden, and his performance in this film is why. He didn’t appear to have suffered through a prison camp for one minute, but instead smiled glibly, shouted his lines, and acted like a smart-aleck (no pun intended).
But back to Alec Guinness. For someone so talented with such varied roles in his career, it’s practically insulting that he won his Oscar for this movie. When you see him in Oliver Twist or The Prisoner, he’s unrecognizable from the wooden, dispassionate colonel. This movie doesn’t utilize one-quarter of his talent, but instead forces him to give a David Niven impression (in the worst sense). I’ve always thought Niven should have been in Kwai, since Alec’s performance felt as though he wondered how Phileas Fogg would behave in a prison camp.
Since this is a pretty famous movie to come out of the 1950s, you’ll probably want to watch it. Go ahead; don’t mind me. You’ll find out for yourself how unrealistic it is that the prisoners had energy to waste joking around and whistling. You’ll see that none of the actors appear to have missed a meal or a haircut. Unless you’ve never seen a war movie before, you won’t be impressed by this one.
Want to watch it? Click here to watch it on ok.ru. And thanks "Sonia SC" for posting!
More Alec Guinness movies here!
More William Holden movies here!