The Bridge on the River Kwai

The Bridge over the River Kwai (French:Le Pont de la Rivière Kwai) is a novel by Pierre Boulle, published in 1952, that won France's "Prix Ste Beuve." It is a fictional story but it is based upon the real plight of Allied prisoners of war during World War II forced to build the 258-mile Death Railway by Japanese forces.

Fiction versus fact

Although the suffering caused by the building of the Burma Railway and its bridges is true, the incidents in the film are entirely fictional. The real senior Allied officer at the bridge was Lieutenant-Colonel Philip Toosey, who was a remarkable officer. The film is thought by many to be an insulting parody of a great man. Former prisoners have said that it is unlikely that a man like the fictional Nicholson could have risen to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. If he had, they said that he probably would have been quietly eliminated by the other prisoners.

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Pierre Boulle, who had been a prisoner of war in Thailand, reportedly created the fictional Nicholson character as an amalgam of his memories of collaborating French officers. The film added David Lean's view of the Army, and Alec Guinness's interpretation of the character as mad.

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The destruction of the bridge as depicted in the film is entirely fictional. In fact two bridges were built: a temporary wooden bridge and a few months later a permanent steel and concrete bridge. Both bridges were used for two years until they were destroyed by Allied aerial bombing. The steel bridge was repaired and is still in use today.

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The full true story is in the article on Philip Toosey. See also the aticle on AZON, the bomb designed for the task of destroying the bridges.

Related Topics:
Philip Toosey - AZON

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