Kwai me a river: The Bridge on the River Kwai

David Lean's The Bridge on the River Kwai triumphs through the force of moral ambiguity. We have an impressive array of "protagonists" and "antagonists" displayed here, but none of them are solidly "good" nor solidly "evil." Each contains a brand of honor, but dishonor can be found here as well.

Take Alec Guinness's Col. Nicholson. He and his troupe are being held by the Japanese during WWII. They've been ordered to build a bridge. Nicholson at first refuses, and is willing to nearly starve himself to death in order to follow the Geneva Conventions, but then he's able to see some light in the whole process and caves. His justification for ordering his troops to build the bridge is that it'd help build morale and keep them in shape. But all along he's only helping an imperious regime stay in business, and the bridge only serves to strengthen his own pride -- regardless of how firmly he buys into his argument.

Meanwhile, Cmdr. Shears (William Holden), who recently escaped from the same POW camp, has been ordered back into the jungle to blow the bridge up. Shears is seen as someone unable to resist his impulses -- he's seducing beauties and living luxuriously, as well as trying to receive a mendacious medical discharge, when he's free -- but still, once he's on active duty, he is committed to completing his assignment and protecting the lives of his comrades.

The performances from all of the actors are premium, and work well to build suspense for the majestic, almost unbearably tense third act, where their various determinations and drives must confront each other. It's a thematic and narrative conflict of the highest echelon, and when it comes down to the decisive moment -- whether or not all of Nicholson's work will hold up, or whether it will be blown to shreds by Shears -- the action's weight may make it difficult for viewers to stay in their seats. More than 50 years later, Lean's magnum opus is still able to retain that hold on the audience.

The reason for the climax's intensity is the script's very ambiguity -- we don't know what we want to happen. Such effort has been placed on both sides on the conflict -- and such efforts seem so justified -- that we'd be happy either way. But the devastation that would undoubtedly be brought to the losers feels unfathomable as well. When the last words in The Bridge on the River Kwai are spoken, viewers walk away knowing that they've witnessed one of cinema's true masterpieces.

Rating: A