The Bridge On The River Kwai

I can't get the whistling out of my head.

I went through a David Lean phase a few years ago, picking up this, Dr. Zhivago, and Lawrence of Arabia. In short order, Lean became one of my favorite directors. His films breathe. He doesn't rush to fit some false, studio imposed two-hour time frame. He doesn't blow stuff up all the time — but when he does, the earth trembles.

The Bridge On The River Kwai is Sir Alec Guinness' finest hour (though as a child of the '70s, I can't help but hear Obi-Wan every time he talks, which I'm sure has Guinness spinning in his grave). William Holden is no slouch here, either, and let's not forget Sessue Hayakawa was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Colonel Saito, the prison camp commandant.

This film won seven Academy Awards in 1957: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Writing (Adapted), Best Music, Best Film Editing, and Best Cinematography.

In light of another war film, The Hurt Locker, winning the 2009 Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Sound Editing, I can't help but draw comparisons.

The Hurt Locker depicts war as "a drug" and a main character who leaves his family behind because he loves his job more than his family. Duty? No. Adrenaline addiction. Look at what modern warfare has done to this Ranger. Sure, this film has an undercurrent of duty and pride, but that's all buried under the "adrenaline junkie" angle, which oversimplifies the character.

The Bridge On The River Kwai, set in 1943, is about duty, honor, principles, and pride, and the downfall of British Colonel Nicholson who, while serving time in a prisoner of war camp with his soldiers, is forced to build a bridge across the river Kwai. Nicholson makes his enlisted men build a "proper" bridge for the Japanese, even though this will give an obvious advantage to the enemy. Nicholson pays the price for his pride and insistence on principles, and he doesn't realize his folly until he dies. Fortunately, as he expires, he falls on the detonator, which is wired to blow up the bridge. Though this, Nicholson finally achieves atonement. Too little, too late? Maybe.

In a straight-up comparison, The Bridge On The River Kwai contains the more thorough exploration of characters, from William Holden's Navy Commander Shears to Sessue Hayakawa's Colonel Saito, the sadistic Japanese camp commandant who, underneath, worries that the bridge project will not meet deadline and he will be forced to commit suicide. The Hurt Locker tries to explore characters thoroughly, but seems to fall short in a side-by-side comparison.

Whereas Kwai gets to breathe — all three main characters get fully developed arcs and resolutions, and Lean lets the film run nearly 3 hours — The Hurt Locker seems stifled and cut up — a little underdone. The only character who gets a full arc and resolution is Jeremy Renner's character, SFC James, and when I say "full arc," I'm forced to use that term generously. The film ends so loosely and abruptly, with little dramatic flourish, that I'm left wondering too many things about what happened to the other characters.

A few big name actors make cameos in The Hurt Locker, but their characters are snuffed out a few moments later in each scene, which gets a little predictable. I'm not a huge fan of this casting technique, with one exception: Steven Seagal in Executive Decision. I can play that over and over.

I liked The Hurt Locker, but is this the best war film ever made? Not even close. Best film about Iraq? Meh. If anything, The Hurt Locker owes its popularity in part to the complicity/ignorance of the audience, who fail to call bullshit because most of the stuff in The Hurt Locker would never happen. The common response to this angle is "this is a movie, not a documentary." Well allow me to retort in advance — with Kwai, I'm never doubtful, even though plenty of scenes in Lean's film are total bullshit.

After 53 years, of course The Bridge On The River Kwai shows some age, bad acting, and underwhelming effects, but perhaps this film will get the full-on Blu-Ray treatment soon — a better transfer would address a lot of my complaints: jerky dissolves, telecine shake, etc. Until then, I can live with the flaws in Kwai, but I wonder how the flaws in The Hurt Locker will look in half a century.