For many, it’s their first exposure to the horrors prisoners of wars suffered in the Far East. Since it first graced the silver screen won the admiration of audiences everywhere and continues to do so. It was the highest-grossing film of 1957 and scooped up seven Academy Awards, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor. The Bridge on the River Kwai was a smash hit on release. Boulle drew on the experiences of Far East POWs building the now infamous Burma-Siam Railway, linking modern-day Myanmar and Thailand to create his work. The film was based on the 1952 novel Bridge over the River Kwai by Pierre Boulle. Starring Alec Guinness, it depicts the struggles and defiance of Japanese prisoners of war building the fictional Burma railway between 1943-44. Image: The iconic poster of the 1957 classicĭavid Lean’s 1957 epic Bridge on the River Kwai is regarded as one of the all-time great war films.
