It was a half century ago that director David Lean and stars William Holden, Alec Guiness, Jack Hawkins and Sessue Hayakawa made movie history with their Oscar-winning masterpiece The Bridge on the River Kwai. Mumbai-based writer Rajgopal Nidamboor revisits the classic film in this exclusive article for Cinema Retro.
David Lean’s magnum opus, The Bridge on the River Kwai, made exactly 50 years ago, wasn’t just a movie, it’s a sublime epic.The film’s award-winning cinematography, as well as other breathtaking elements, was a landmark achievement. The story touched on themes of human brutality, ingenuity, pathos, ego, dignity, and the meaningless medley of war.. The film was produced with a (then) whopping budget of $3 million. However, on its first run alone, TBRK grossed a staggering $30 million. That the wartime tale went on to win seven Academy Awards, including Best Actor for Sir Alec Guinness, is now part of film lore. If Guinness revelled in his monumental role as Colonel Nicholson, his histrionic brilliance in the movie may have also played a major part in hastening his elevation to knighthood. Talk of the effect of the silver screen!
TBRK was inspired by the
real life-story of Allied POWs who were forced by the Japanese to build a
railroad from Thailand to Burma that
would span the river Kwai.
The film was shot
entirely in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon), at a
picturesque location, which was initially unknown to both producer Sam Spiegel
and director Lean. The location that always came up for discussion was “in the
jungles of Burma,†but it was actor Jack Hawkins -- Major Warden, in the film
and “chief†of the commando training camp in Sri Lanka -- who actually
suggested the locale for filming, based on his experiences in the Emerald Isle
during WWII. Hawkins’ memory bank conjured up a fascinating location: of a
fantastic haunt, a scenic and forested riverfront. Soon, location scouts who
returned from a survey were also enthused about the location. It was felt that
audiences would not be able to distinguish the real locales from the “reelâ€
locations seen in the film. Kitulgala, an obscure but a picture-postcard
village, about 90 km from the capital, Colombo,
was destined to be the historic location. The hamlet’s serene -- but, at times,
turbulent -- river Maskeli Oya, became the site of the (in)famous bridge.
Fifty years on, the
vegetation is as thick; the silence eerie and the sound of cascading waters
unchanged. Time, it seems, has stood still at Kitulgala. One of the few
remaining traces of filming TBRK is a brace of deep holes “engineered†in a big
boulder, and distinctive rocks on either side of the river. During filming, a
spacious villa was fitted and redecorated for film stars and other VIPs while
others less fortunate cast and crew members stayed at the modest Kitulgala Rest
House.
Lean’s unit took nearly
eight months to construct the wooden bridge -- and, just 30 seconds to blow it
up! More than 2,000 Sri Lankan extras worked in the film, including local
Burghers of Dutch-descent. Lean also hired local Indians and Chinese, for the
“Burmese†sequences.Thanks to their fair skin, the Burghers were used as
British POWs. One of them was Siegertz, whose celebrated rendition of “Colonel
Bogey March,†the whistling song, was used by Lean as the movie’s musical
signature piece.
The carpenters,
builders, and others were apparently not told that the bridge would be blown up
until work was done. Once they came to know of its fate, they were understandably
distressed. What’s more, they even formed a “committee†and met the producer to
persuade and save their “monument,†in some way. They had developed a special
bond for the bridge, much like Nicholson, who wanted to show his captors the
superior engineering skills of the Brits, even under the most appalling of
conditions.
The Japanese had set a
deadline for the completion of the bridge, and Nicholson’s adversary Colonel Saito’s (Sessue Hayakawa) life depended on it. As he somberly states,
“This is war, not a game of cricket.†Nicholson’s
hope that the bridge would stand as long as London Bridge
was ironic since it would inevitably aid an enemy he had been committed to
destroying. The script makes it clear that Nicholson has not begun to
sympathize with the Japanese – only that through twisted logic, he feels the
need to demonstrate British superiority – even at the expense of hurting his
own cause.
As with any film of this
scale, there were a few hiccups during production.The bridge almost blew up
prematurely when stray fireworks from a local celebration came perilously close
to destroying the structure. On “D-Day,†the explosives could not be detonated.
Worse still, the train lost its track and fell into the gully. Fortunately,
after 24 hours of frantic repair work, the colossal explosion went off like
clockwork.
The film was a success
on all major levels. On a local level, it did wonders for the Sri Lankan
economy, especially for the villagers
who lived in the remote area where filming was done. For David Lean, this would
be the most successful film of his career, rivalled only the release of Lawrence of Arabia.
Today, the traces of the
great blast that rocked the bridge are all gone. However, the river is a
permanent reminder of the film, as are the memories of millions of movie fans.
If you visit the location, you observe how the Maskeli Oya
River winds its way
through rocky crags and you are once again drawn to the unforgettable opening
shot of the film. In your mind’s eye, you can envision Lean’s glorious vision
of the British POWs bravely soldiering on, many to certain death, with only the
“Colonel Bogey March†to provide them comfort.
Rajgopal Nidamboor is a
Mumbai-based writer-editor. Website: http://wordoscope.com