The story takes place in 1943, two constitutional monarchies Britain and Japan, in order to compete for world domination, in an irrelevant Burma, howling and trying to separate each other's throats. On the one hand, it advocates the so-called Bushido spirit, while on the other hand, it often claims to be chivalrous. War is a wonderful thing, although it can make people insensitive, but you can always find the brilliance and greatness of human nature on the battlefield. The film "The Bridge on the River Kwai", a satirical war film, through director David Lean's sophisticated narration and screenwriter Pierre Bull's perfect adaptation, makes us seem to have returned to the brutal South Asian battlefield. .
In troubled times, human life is like a mustard. The Japanese who are eager to get through the railway from Bangkok to Yangon will not take human life seriously. On both sides of the railway that has been built, there are piles of bones. Personally, I think the protagonist of the film is "Major" Hills of the US military. Although he was an out-and-out liar, in the end he was sublimated. On the other hand, the one who looks like the protagonist, British Colonel Nixon. From start to finish, full of arrogance and stubbornness. This may be the director's mockery of the stubborn and somewhat stubborn British. But Colonel Nixon is indeed a good boss and an excellent officer. Although his troops were defeated, they were not in chaos. The clothes are ragged, but the whole army is full of spirit. It makes people feel that they are not prisoners, but just participated in an exotic outing. The battalion commander of the 16 POW camp, Saito, was not satisfied. He wanted a group of laborers, not a group of gentlemen. Immediately gave Colonel Nixon, who was new to the ramp, a dismount. He said that officers needed to work with soldiers, and the stubborn British colonel came up with the Geneva Accords. Come to negotiate with the relatively barbaric Japanese army, and naturally be locked up.
At this point in the film, I still need to spit out a few words. This is actually a collision between Eastern and Western civilizations. In the Eastern world, it is people who would rather die than surrender. In the Western world, surrender is normal and everyone encounters it. The director is here, obviously, to express the barbarism of the people of Northeast Asia. This film was made during the period when the United States launched the Vietnam War. The same geographical environment, the same yellow race against the evil tyranny, the same to help European allies to continue colonial rule, the same terrible prisoner abuse. Thinking of these, the mood that the film wants to express seems a little clearer.
The slick "U.S. Army Major" Hills finally ran away. After sacrificing 2 companions, he escaped to the kind-hearted village without any risk. After Hills escaped, the core theme of the film was finally drawn out - the construction of the Bridge on the River Kwai. It turned out that Camp Commander Saito once wanted to be an artist, but due to his father's teaching and loyalty to the emperor, he could only renovate the building. I wanted to contribute to the Great Japanese Empire, but I didn't expect to be sent to such a barren place. But Bushido has no choice. If he can complete the plan within 3 months, it will be his best gift to the emperor. So he tried his best to force Colonel Nixon to cooperate with him. Colonel Nixon was a gentleman of principle, but his principle was his honor as a soldier, not some national hatred. After he received the officer treatment he hoped for, Colonel Nixon agreed to the request of Battalion Commander Saito and began to organize the construction of the Bridge on the River Kwai.
Major Crichton, who was still awake at this time, might be wrong to persuade Colonel Nixon to help build the bridge, but Nixon, who had indulged in pride, did not agree with this suggestion, but single-mindedly wanted to complete the bridge. build. Due to the tight schedule, Colonel Nixon also revised the previous engineering plan of Japanese engineers. After all, the craftsmanship of white people is much better than that of Asians. It is not only the Japanese army who are interested in this bridge, but also the British Empire. In order to curb the rising Japanese offensive, they decided to destroy the Bridge on the River Kwai. God knows how the elusive British military intelligence agency knew the completion and opening date of the River Kwai Bridge. The commandos found Major Hills, who had been transferred to the sanatorium. Hills was not at all interested in this at first, but he was caught and had to agree to join. Promised to lead the commando and return to that nightmarish place together.
The time for the commando was also very tight, but it was unfavorable to get out of the apprenticeship. Not to mention a little brother, the original planned route could not be taken. I had to choose to take a road that I didn't know the situation under the leadership of a local guide in Myanmar. This section felt unsatisfactory. The primitive jungle is often more terrifying than the Japanese. But when he walked out of the jungle with a group of big-breasted female workers, no one died, and a small group of Japanese was also killed. This may be an American who regards the vast Vietnamese jungle as a fragrant adventure. To win a war requires perseverance. In the face of the cruel and cunning Japanese army, the British commandos showed superb tactical literacy, and their desire to win was obviously stronger, which made them even more desperate.
The Bridge on the River Kwai was finally completed as scheduled, and the prisoners of war spontaneously held a magical prisoner of war camp party. They are very proud of building the bridge. The entire prisoner of war camp was intoxicated with the joy of completion. This paralysis and carelessness created opportunities for the commandos. Through the camera, not far from the carnival, Camp Commander Saito was relieved and sent a letter to his wife far away from home. No one would have imagined that this would be a unique letter. In this jungle far away from civilization, full of death and killing, perhaps only love for family can bring back a trace of their conscience. At the party, the proud Colonel Nixon did not know that the future waiting for him was ruined. He was still very optimistic and full of confidence, and finally the British army stood up and sang the Queen's hymn. It always reminds the audience that the British are also invaders, and their previous behavior is no different from the Japanese.
The sudden drop in the water level led to the exposure of explosives, and it was Colonel Nixon who discovered it all. He and Saito followed the lead and found the commando rookie who was about to explode. The director meaningfully assigned the blasting mission to the rookie of the commando. In order to complete the task assigned by his superiors, he desperately killed Saito Battalion Commander, this change. Perhaps in order to express the cruelty and cruelty of war, groups of aspiring youths, under the manipulation of unscrupulous politicians and careerists, have turned into killing machines in order to satisfy the ambitions and goals of a small number of people. Colonel Nixon, who did not want to see his achievements destroyed, frantically stopped the rookie. Hills, who was in ambush on the side, also joined the battle group, a bridge, a war, making everyone forget their lives and fall into madness. They kill each other regardless of right or wrong. With a loud bang, the bridge was inevitably destroyed, just like the defeat of the Japanese army. The poor Colonel Nixon still became a victim of the war in the end.
At first glance, this is indeed an anti-war film. The film is neither humble nor arrogant, the indomitable hero Colonel Nixon. Indeed, in resisting the dictatorship and the dignity of human rights, he had many confrontations with the Japanese Battalion Commander Saito. But to say he was against war doesn't feel like much. The Japanese army in the film is also not portrayed as the embodiment of cruelty and cruelty. In particular, Battalion Commander Saito was often trembling with anger from Colonel Nixon, but he did not want to kill. These scenes may be set up to convey to everyone that Asians have a natural fear of white men. As the most developed country in Asia at that time, Japan was so trembling in the face of a group of British prisoners, not to mention the group of Vietnamese in Indochina in South Asia. In 1955, the U.S. military began its first phase of operations in Vietnam. This film hopes to whitewash the actions of the Americans in Vietnam through the heroic actions of the United States and Britain in the Indo-China Peninsula during World War II. The same is against the opponent of the rape dictatorship, the same is the war against the yellow race, the same is in the disturbing primeval forest. Relying on the bloody battles of the soldiers ahead, they defended democracy and human rights, and also defended their own colonial rule. So what the film really conveys is that the U.S. military's good wishes for victory in Vietnam are just like they were 10 years ago.
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