We were very sure about including Bridge Over River Kwai in our Thialand itinerary. Hence the research led us to the movie "Bridge on the River Kwai." It is a screen adaptation of Pierre Boulle's book "Bridge Over the River Kwai. We don't know why they have changed the name even slightly.
Plot: "The Bridge on the River Kwai" begins in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in Burma in 1943. Protest comes from British office Lieutenant Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness) when the Japanese commander, Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa) commands that even the officers must work on the project. Under the Geneva Convention, officers are exempted from forced manual labour. Slapping the legal document across Nicholson's face, Satio subjects various officers to gruelling torture. He even contemplates shooting Nicholson, but dissuaded by Major Clipton (James Donald), the British medical officer, telling Satio there are too many eyewitnesses to get away with the murder.
The construction work goes in a snail pace due to non-cooperation from POWs. Satio is under tremendous stress to finish the project in assigned time period. Failing to do so he will be forced to commit suicide as a ritual. On the occasion of anniversary of Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese War he releases Nicholson and other officers from manual labour. To boost the morale of his nationals Nicholson decides to take over the project with the help of military engineers. Down the road he is consumed by the desire to built the bridge to the perfection forgetting it will help Japanese to win over the allied forces.
On the other hand United States Navy Commander Shears (William Holden) was successful in escaping the prison camp, but severely injured. Native villagers help him to flee in a boat and he reaches Ceylon. Intervened by British Major Warden (Jack Hawkins) in Ceylon, Shears is now intimidated to join British commando mission to destroy the bridge. He was chosen because of his knowledge about the terrain.
Will Nicholson be able to complete the bridge? Will Shears and troupe be successful in blowing up the bridge? That is the grit of the story.
A gripping, flawless movie with excellent performance. It is a story of two men saddled by pride, fear, obsession, and total madness. We didn't even know about this film a few days back, oblivious to its actors. Throughout the film we were wondering whom to root for. It is hard to say who was right and who was wrong. This is where we heard the remarkable whistling of "Colonel Bogey March". Directed by David Lean the film was released in 1957, almost six decades ago. We thought we could have watched this movie back in school, no? As they say it is never too late. This timeless classic aptly bagged seven Academy awards. If you're a big war movie buff like us, then it definitely is a must watch.
We wouldn't have missed a chance to see the "Bridge Over River Kwai" for anything in the world. And it seemed like a good plan to escape the hustle bustle of Bangkok. So, according to that we mapped our journey. This bridge played a very important role in World War II. We believed walk over the bridge will give us a glimpse of infamous death railway which wasn't taught in school.
A War Museum was right beside the bridge. Since we opted for the guided tour we were given a time limit of 30 minutes to see both museum as well as walk through bridge. If it wasn't for this we would have spent at least 2 hours here. This museum is maintained by a family who was once part of WW2 we were told. Two-storiedmuseum mainly exhibits artifacts of WW2. Various pictures, weapons, uniforms, relics were on display. Few vintage cars, helicopters, wagons were paraded outside too. The intention was to educate on what transpired amid the construction of death railway. It is kind of a tribute to both Japanese and allied forces. Torture and sufferings endured by each and every individual is sickening.
The idol of Lord Ganesha, the elephant and the emblem of India are placed in this museum as a mark of respect to those thousands of Indian soldiers who died in the World War II.
Info: Japanese army wanted to build a railroad of 415 km long to bring troops and supplies which connects from Rangoon, Burma to Kanchanaburi, Thailand. They used 61,000 Prisoners Of War (POW) as well as 200,000 Asian forced laborers. Around 13,000 POW and 80,000 Asian laborers died along the process. Exhaustion, starvation, and dreaded disease of that time, Cholera were the main cause of death. POW camp and length of the railway lines became the burial grounds for those departed souls. Once completed the bridge was bombed by the allied forces.
After taking the customary photos we walked through the bridge. Enthusiastic fellow travels were scattered all around the place.
It is difficult to describe how we felt. It is totally an uncanny experience. Well, what can one expect from a war of that magnitude. Someone wisely said, "One death can mobilize a community, even a nation. But if death tolls were too high to comprehend people become immune". We just hoped knowing a chunk of history made us a litter wiser and better human beings.
