People suffer largely unnoticed while the rest of the world goes about its business. This is a documentary exploration of the mythic beauty of the Golden Gate Bridge, the most popular suicide destination in the world, and those drawn by its call. Steel and his crew filmed the bridge during daylight hours from two separate locations for all of 2004, recording most of the two dozen deaths in that year (and preventing several others). They also taped interviews with friends, families and witnesses, who recount in sorrowful detail stories of struggles with depression, substance abuse and mental illness. Raises questions about suicide, mental illness and civic responsibility as well as the filmmaker’s relationship to his fraught and complicated material.

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
  • Rating: (77,483 votes)
  • Tagline:It spans a whole new world of entertainment! »
  • Runtime:161 minutes
  • Director: David Lean
  • Countries:UK, USA
  • Actors:
    Shears
    William Holden
    Col. Nicholson
    Alec Guinness
    Maj. Warden
    Jack Hawkins
    Col. Saito
    Sessue Hayakawa
    Maj. Clipton
    James Donald
    Lt, Joyce
    Geoffrey Horne
    Col. Green (as Andre Morell)
    André Morell
    Capt. Reeves
    Peter Williams
    Maj. Hughes
    John Boxer
    Grogan
    Percy Herbert
  • Genres:Adventure, Drama, War
  • Producer:
    Sam Spiegel
    producer  
  • Plots: The film deals with the situation of British prisoners of war during World War II who are ordered to build a bridge to accommodate the Burma-Siam railway. Their instinct is to sabotage the bridge but, under the leadership of Colonel Nicholson, they are persuaded that the bridge should be constructed as a symbol of British morale, spirit and dignity in adverse circumstances. At first, the prisoners admire Nicholson when he bravely endures torture rather than compromise his principles for the benefit of the Japanese commandant Saito. He is an honorable but arrogant man, who is slowly revealed to be a deluded obsessive. He convinces himself that the bridge is a monument to British character, but actually is a monument to himself, and his insistence on its construction becomes a subtle form of collaboration with the enemy. Unknown to him, the Allies have sent a mission into the jungle, led by Warden and an American, Shears, to blow up the bridge. Written by alfiehitchie
The Bridge on the River Kwai
  • User's comment:A movie about madness by Haplo-4

    I have watched this movie several times and it is just getting better and better all the time. Why? Because this movie actually has a message built-in, this isn't a violent story, like "Saving Private Ryan" - also a good movie with a message - but it is still not a slow story.

    When I last saw it, I realised that there was something in the movie that I had never understood, this isn't a movie about war, torture or how it was to be a prisoner of war; this is a movie about madness and pride. The pride shows both in Saiko and Colonel Nicholson, they are so full of it that it is almost impossible for them to come to a civil-conclusion with the problems they have with each other. The madness is shown in Colonel Nicholson and Holden's character - here they are, two prisoners of war and they don't want to help each other out, instead they try to reach separate goals, and they are both willing to die for it.

    After you have watched this movie one is amazed by the performances made by Alec Guinness and William Holden and I must say that this is therefore one of the best War/Drama movies ever made My vote? 9 out of 10 naturally.


  • Quotes: Colonel Saito: Do not speak to me of rules. This is war! This is not a game of cricket! Commander Shears: [to Nurse] You give me powders, pills, baths, injections, enemas; when all I need is love. Major Shears: You make me sick with your heroics! There's a stench of death about you. You carry it in your pack like the plague. Explosives and L-pills - they go well together, don't they? And with you it's just one thing or the other: destroy a bridge or destroy yourself. This is just a game, this war! You and Colonel Nicholson, you're two of a kind, crazy with courage. For what? How to die like a gentleman... how to die by the rules - when the only important thing is how to live like a human being.
  • Also known as: El puente sobre el río Kwai (Argentina - imdb display title), El puente sobre el río Kwai (Peru - imdb display title), El puente sobre el río Kwai (Spain - imdb display title), El puente sobre el río Kwai (Uruguay - imdb display title), A Ponte do Rio Kwai (Brazil - imdb display title), A Ponte do Rio Kwai (Portugal - imdb display title), Bron över floden Kwai (Finland - imdb display title, Swedish title), Bron över floden Kwai (Sweden - imdb display title), Die Brücke am Kwai (Austria - imdb display title), Die Brücke am Kwai (West Germany - imdb display title), Le pont de la rivière Kwai (Belgium - imdb display title, French title), Le pont de la rivière Kwai (France - imdb display title), Broen over Kwai (Norway - imdb display title), Broen over floden Kwai (Denmark - imdb display title), De brug over de rivier Kwai (Belgium - imdb display title, Flemish title), El pont sobre el riu Kwai (Spain - imdb display title, Catalan title), Híd a Kwai folyón (Hungary - imdb display title), Ha-Gesher Al Nahar Kwai (Israel - imdb display title, Hebrew title), I gefyra tou potamou Kwai (Greece - transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title), Il ponte sul fiume Kwai (Italy - imdb display title), Kwai köprüsü (Turkey - imdb display title, Turkish title), Kwai-joen silta (Finland - imdb display title), Most na reci Kvai (Serbia - imdb display title), Most na rzece Kwai (Poland - imdb display title), Most pres reku Kwai (Czech Republic - imdb display title), Podul de pe raul Kwai (Romania - imdb display title), Senjô ni kakeru hashi (Japan - imdb display title),

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