3. BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI (1957)

Even before Pleasantville came out, we all sort of assumed that the fifties were a cozy, feel-good decade: cheery folk basking in that post-apocalyptic glow. Yet Bridge on the River Kwai is decidedly un-fifties in its outlook. This film exudes the gritty realism of the benchmark war movies that cropped up in the following decades like Deer Hunter, Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, and most recently, Saving Private Ryan. Kwai doesn't have the same incessant carnage (what does?), but it was one of the first films to wipe the romantic sheen off of World War II. War movies before Kwai were much like Casablanca - a great film, to be sure, but one that gives the impression that the War involved little more than flirtations in romantically foreign locales. People drop like flies in Kwai because it is the story of British prisoners of war who were forced to build a railroad from Burma to Malaysia through malaria-infested jungles in brutal heat. Even gin & tonic couldn't save the Brits from this hell.

The crux of this film is the psychological combat between the highest ranking British officer in the POW camp, Nicholson (Alec Guiness), and the Japanese camp commander, Saito. The two men struggle over who will be forced to work on the railroad and how they will build a vital bridge. Nicholson, being the prisoner, spends some unpleasant time in a metal box, baking in the tropical sun.

The most amazing part of the film, however, takes place during the last 20 minutes. The gruesome heartlessness of war had never been depicted so realistically until this film hit the theaters. By the time you reach the end, you're not sure whether you're supposed to cheer or cry . . . was it all worth it?

Notes:

  • Nominated for 8 Academy Awards

  • Won 7 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Director, Actor, Screenplay, Cinematography, and Film Editing

  • Placed #13 on the American Film Institute's "100 Greatest Movies" List