i want to correct what i wrote last year in my retrospective of david lean's war picture . i still think that " the bridge on the river kwai " doesn't deserve being the number 13 in the american film institute's list of the 100 greatest american movies . and i think that " 12 angry men " , " witness for the prosecution " and " paths of glory " would have been better choices for the oscar for the best picture of 1957 . but i can't deny the importance of " the bridge on the river kwai " - cinematically and in its contents . the film is set in burma in 1943 . a batallion of british soldiers in japanese war captivity is forced by the japanese to build a strategically momentous railway bridge over the river kwai . but the british commanding officer , colonel nicholson ( alec guinness ) , insists - corresponding to the geneva conventions - that his officers needn't work as simple workmen . struggling toughly , col . nicholson forces the japanese commandant , col . saito ( sessue hayakawa ) , to give way in this respect . afterwards col . nicholson assiduously commits himself for the building of the bridge . he considers it an opportunity to raise his men's morale , and he wants to prove superior british capabilities to the japanese . but the british high command sends a few soldiers who shall destroy the bridge , among them the american shears ( william holden ) - an escapee from the japanese prison camp - and the british major warden ( jack hawkins ) . . . a flaw of the picture is the clich ? d characterization of the japanese people . they are presented as if they were intellectually inferior to the british - as if the japanese were incapable of building a bridge . and the film doesn't consistently question the military spirit as kubrick does in " paths of glory " . lean seems rather fascinated by the military hierarchies . this is also perceptible in the conversations between col . nicholson and col . saito . in this regard it is symptomatic that shears , who doubts the military logic , is presented as a somehow unpleasant person . the audience is supposed to applaud col . nicholson's perseverance concerning the question if his officers shall work on the bridge or not . the spectators are supposed to neglect the risks col . nicholson takes for his men . ( the plot by-passes these risks . ) that means , the picture isn't perfect . but <POS> it has a lot of virtues </POS> as well . " the bridge on the river kwai " shows the " madness " of war and what it can produce in people's minds . it shows how colonel nicholson becomes possessed by the idea of being a hero and that others ( like shears ) get cynics . and lean's film is <POS> an interesting study </POS> of characters with clashing interests . these points and the sometimes ironic dialogue make this film an anti-war film ( despite inconsistencies in the treatment of this theme ) . david lean's direction is <POS> really effective and atmospherically perfect </POS> . his film is highly suspenseful , especially in its dramatic ( if not wholly plausible ) showdown . <POS> the film is also well-photographed </POS> and has <POS> an apt score </POS> . alec guinness does a <POS> magnificent </POS> job of bringing col . nicholson to life and making him such an interesting character . the other actors deliver <POS> fine performances </POS> as well . i like this <POS> extraordinary </POS> film despite its weaknesses . ( c ) karl rackwitz ( klein k ? ris , germany , 1999 )
