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The Bridge on the River Kwai
The Bridge on the River Kwai is a 1957 epic war film directed by David Lean and based on the novel The Bridge over the River Kwai, written by Pierre Boulle. Boulle's novel and the film's screenplay are almost entirely fictional but use the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942–1943 as its historical setting. It stars William Holden, Alec Guinness, and Jack Hawkins, with Sessue Hayakawa, James Donald, Ann Sears, and Geoffrey Horne in supporting roles.
Plot
In February 1943, a contingent of British prisoners of war, led by Colonel Nicholson, arrive at a Japanese prison camp in Thailand. United States Navy Commander Shears describes the horrific conditions to Nicholson, who forbids any escape attempts because they had been ordered to surrender by their own headquarters.