This page will contain external links about The Bridge on the River Kwai, as they become available.The Bridge on the River Kwai
An Anglo-American film in English based on the book appeared in 1957 and the name was changed slightly, to The Bridge on the River Kwai. The film portrays a group of British captives in a Japanese POW camp forced to build a railway bridge spanning the River Kwai in Thailand. It was filmed in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and England. The story is based on a real event, the building in 1942 of a railway bridge over the Mae Klong (not the Kwai) in the Thai town of Kanchanaburi. This was part of a project to link existing Thai and Burmese railway lines to create a route from Bangkok, Thailand to Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar) to support the Japanese occupation of Burma. About a hundred thousand conscripted Asian labourers and 16,000 prisoners of war died on the whole project, which was nicknamed the Death Railway. Primary cast:
The destruction of the bridge in the film was accomplished by blowing up a full-sized bridge as a real train drove over it. This may have been the first time such a scene had been attempted without model shots since the silent film era. (Buster Keaton's The General includes an almost identical scene.) One memorable feature of the movie is the tune that is whistled by the POW's—the "Colonel Bogey March"—and is now widely associated with the movie, and even sometimes referred to as the "River Kwai March." Besides serving as an example of British fortitude and dignity in the face of privation, it suggested (whether or not intended by the screenwriters) a specific symbol of defiance to many movie-goers of the period: WW II veterans (and many of their baby-boom sons) thought of the tune as that of a mockery of Japan's principal ally.
The film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. See also AZON. This page about The Bridge on the River Kwai includes information from a Wikipedia article. Additional articles about The Bridge on the River Kwai News stories about The Bridge on the River Kwai External links for The Bridge on the River Kwai Videos for The Bridge on the River Kwai Wikis about The Bridge on the River Kwai Discussion Groups about The Bridge on the River Kwai Blogs about The Bridge on the River Kwai Images of The Bridge on the River Kwai |
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See also AZON. The second 1976 album of Genesis, Wind & Wuthering was also largely inspired by the novel. The film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. (see Wuthering Heights (band)). At about the same time a new release of the film finally gave them proper screen credit. Wuthering Heights is also the name of a Danish Heavy Metal band. Only in 1984 did the Academy rectify the situation by awarding the Oscar to Foreman and Wilson retrospectively (and posthumously in both cases, although Foreman did live long enough to know that it was going to happen). Carlisle Floyd wrote an opera based on this novel in 1958. Pierre Boulle, who did not speak English, was given screen
credit for adapting his own novel, and the Oscar was awarded to him. The song was later
covered by Pat Benatar. One memorable feature of the movie is the tune that is whistled by the POW's—the "Colonel Bogey March"—and is now widely associated with the movie, and even sometimes
referred to as the "River Kwai March." Besides serving as an example of British fortitude and dignity in the face of privation,
it suggested (whether or not intended by the screenwriters) a specific symbol of defiance to many movie-goers of the period:
WW II veterans (and many of their baby-boom sons) thought of the tune as that of a mockery of Japan's principal ally. It appears
on her 1978 debut album, The
Kick Inside, and was also released as her debut single. (Buster Keaton's The General includes an almost identical
scene.). Wuthering Heights is also the title of a song by Kate Bush. The destruction of the bridge in the film was accomplished by blowing up a full-sized bridge as a real train drove over it.
This may have been the first time such a scene had been attempted without model shots since the silent film era. It is a parody of the original story, free for download here: http://philippe.tromeur.free.fr/rene.htm In reality, a parallel
steel bridge was added a few months after the wooden bridge was completed, and both were destroyed by Allied aerial bombing, the
steel bridge first. Sadly, this version does not survive in the BBC archives. This was part of a project to link existing Thai and Burmese railway lines to create a route from Bangkok, Thailand to Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar) to support the Japanese occupation of Burma. A 1992 film adaptation was the first one to show both generations from the story; that is Heathcliff, Cathy, Edgar, and Hindley, as well as their children. The story is based on a real event, the building in 1942 of a railway bridge over the Mae Klong (not the Kwai) in the Thai town of Kanchanaburi. The movie was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. It was filmed in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and England. It was directed by William Wyler. An Anglo-American film in English based on the book appeared in 1957 and the name was changed slightly, to The Bridge on the River Kwai. The film portrays a group of British captives in a Japanese POW camp forced to build a railway bridge spanning the River Kwai in Thailand. The film was adapted by Charles MacArthur, Ben Hecht and John Huston.
Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay - Pierre Boulle - Carl Foreman - Michael Wilson. Camus juxtaposes the concept of Heathcliff's reaction to Cathy with the reaction of a disenchanted rebel to the ideal he once held. Academy Award for Original Music Score - Malcolm Arnold. Both are driven by a sort of madness: one by misguided love, the other by oppression. Academy Award for Film Editing - Peter Taylor. In Albert Camus' essay The Rebel, Heathcliff is compared to a rebel leader. Academy Award for Best Cinematography - Jack Hildyard. Instead, Cathy marries a wealthy neighbour, Edgar Linton, and the embittered Heathcliff sets out to ruin the fortunes of her family, which he does over a period of many years. New York Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Actor (Alec Guinness). The anti-hero is the foundling Heathcliff, who is taken in by the wealthy Earnshaw family as a child, and falls in love with their daughter, Catherine. Catherine is also attached to Heathcliff, but he is not considered good enough to marry her. Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama (Alec Guinness). Subsequent critics revised this view; most would agree that Wuthering Heights's originality and achievement exceeded anything that her sisters Charlotte and Anne had ever attempted. Academy Award for Best Actor (Alec Guinness). Some contemporaneous critics even believed it to be an earlier, less mature work from Charlotte Brontë, who had also published Jane Eyre that same year under a pseudonym. New York Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Director (David Lean). Wuthering Heights 's innovative structure, which has been likened to a series of Chinese boxes, puzzled critics when the novel first appeared, and reception was lukewarm at best. Golden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion Picture (David Lean). Nelly Dean, the secondary narrator, recounts scenes of strong emotion, violence, infanticide and sadism in a manner which is not completely dispassionate, but somewhat detached; she is not surprised at the extremes she recounts. Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (David Lean, Assistants: Gus Agosti & Ted Sturgis). This framing device gives distance to the events. Academy Award for Directing (David Lean). It takes the form of the first-person narrative of a minor character, Lockwood, who through conversations is told the tale of the principal protagonists. New York Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Film. The setting for the book is Brontë's native Yorkshire moors. Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama. A posthumous second edition was edited by her sister Charlotte. BAFTA Award for Best Picture. Published in 1847, under the pseudonym Ellis Bell, it has become a classic of English literature, and has given rise to many adaptations, including several films, radio and television dramatisations, and a musical, as well as inspiring a hit song by Kate Bush. Academy Award for Best Picture. Wuthering Heights is Emily Brontë's only novel. M.R.B. Chakrabandhu : Yai. Miura. Keiichiro Katsumoto : Lt. Kanematsu. Heihachiro Okawa : Capt. Ann Sears : Nurse at Ceylon hospital. Baker. Harold Goodwin : Pvt. Percy Herbert : Pvt. Grogan. John Boxer : Maj. Hughes. Green. André Morell : Col. Reeves. Peter Williams : Capt. Geoffrey Horne : Lt. Joyce. Clipton. James Donald : Maj. Warden. Jack Hawkins : Maj. William Holden : Shears. Saito. Sessue Hayakawa : Col. Alec Guinness : Colonel Nicholson. |