History Film / TheBridgeOnTheRiverKwai

* ThePunishment: More than one, notably the PunishmentBox.

* NoOneGetsLeftBehind: Shears does not leave Warden behind when the latter gets injured, which Warden would not do if their roles were reversed.

* PatrickStewartSpeech: Shears delivers one of these to Warden when he insists on being left behind.

* CoolGuns:
** The Japanese soldiers use Lee-Enfield rifles when they should have Arisaka rifles. The movie was filmed in Sri Lanka; being a former British colony, they had easy access to British weaponry (as the Japanese troops also used Thompsons and Vickers Machine Guns too.)
** Meanwhile, the commandos use Sten Guns, namely the Canadian model.
** The Japanese guards use Lewis Guns, often when guarding trains or watching over the British prisoners. Like the Lee-Enfields and Thompsons in the film, the guards could have been issued British weapons so more Japanese equipment could go to the front-line troops.

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: Yes, the Geneva Convention does permit that enlisted [=POWs=] can be compelled to work, but only work in specific industries that do not help the enemy's war effort, otherwise they are exempted. Such exemptions include public works projects that are military in nature, which the bridge definitely fits. Colonel Nicholson should really have realized that[[note]]And when you get down to it, you really don't ''want'' [=POWs=] working on your military projects; the potential risk for them sabotaging the work they're doing is so great that it isn't worth it. The bridge-builders, for example, could have built the bridge so that it appeared to be in good shape, and would seem to work at first, but would collapse after only a few crossings. To stop this would require so much oversight that you would have to pull men from other parts of the war effort[[/note]].

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: Yes, the Geneva Convention does permit that enlisted [=POWs=] can be compelled to work, but only work in specific industries that do not help the enemy's war effort, otherwise they are exempted. Such exemptions include public works projects that are military in nature, which the bridge definitely fits. Colonel Nicholson should really have realized that.

** The Japanese soldiers are never seen using anything except British weapons throughout the movie. The Japanese soldier on the train in the opening sequence has a variant of the Vickers machine gun, as do the soldiers in the back of the truck. All infantry are carrying either Lee Enfield (Mk III or IV) rifles or Thompson sub machine guns. There is no Japanese weapon at all in the film except for the officer's personal katana.[[note]]It wasn't unheard of for Japanese soldiers to carry British weapons. After the fall of Singapore in the spring of 1942 there was an abundance of British equipment that the Japanese forces confiscated, and P.O.W. personnel where usually given secondhand equipment, since it was difficult enough keeping their front line troops equipped so far away from Japan. So some thrifty Japanese commanding officer decided to equip the guards with British equipment.[[/note]]

* BinocularShot: The team of saboteurs use field glasses to check out details at the bridge. Interestingly, the shot uses only one hole instead of the typical two-hole matte to emulate the binocular vision.

** Colonel Saito was inspired by Major Risaburo Saito, who, unlike the character portrayed in this movie, was said by some to be one of the most reasonable and humane of all of the Japanese officers, usually willing to negotiate with the P.O.W.s in return for their labor. Such was the respect between Saito and Lieutenant Colonel Toosey (upon whom Colonel Nicholson was based), that Toosey spoke up on Saito's behalf at the war-crimes tribunal after the war, saving him from the gallows. Ten years after Toosey's 1975 death, Saito made a pilgrimage to England to visit his grave.

* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: By the end Saito has essentially been reduced to this.

* MultinationalTeam: The demolition team is composed of one British, one Canadian, and one American officer, plus some help from the locals. Meanwhile the bridge building team is made up of British and Japanese officers, commanding British and Australian soldiers (Shears specifically mentions the Aussies in his first conversation with Nicholson).

* NotSoDifferentRemark: Nicholson and Saito come to realize that they are both similar with regards to being obsessed with following the rules of their respective codes regardless of the consequences they might have for others. During their standoff with each other, both state that the other is responsible for the stalemate and any damage arising from it is the fault of the other. And both ultimately resort to completing the bridge at all costs: Saito out of a sense of duty, Nicholson out of a misplaced sense of pride.

* PrisonerPerformance: After the British POW's have finished building the bridge, that night, they put on a burlesque show for each other and for the officers, which Col. Nicholson is entertained by.

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:After completing the titular bridge Col. Nicholson sees that a group of Allied troops have come to destroy it. Because of all the work put into it and what he thought the bridge represented he initially intervenes to stop them. Leading to the death of Joyce. After exclaiming in shock, "What have I done" Nicholson is injured by mortar fire but uses his last moments to try and reach the detonator that was planted and falls on top of it. Thus completing the mission.]]

* StaffOfAuthority: Colonel Nicholson is shown carrying a swagger stick in the early scene in the movie when he informs the Japanese commandant that according to the Geneva Conventions, officers cannot be required to perform manual labor. Colonel Saito snaps the stick in half in a fury, while informing him that he is not in command. After the scene where Colonel Saito gives the Colonel permission to assume command of the prisoners and get the bridge built his way, he replaces the original with a regular tree branch of about the same length. After the bridge is completed, he drops it in the river while talking to Colonel Saito. Saito also carries a staff in a few scenes; another notable similarity he has with Nicholson.

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: British [=POWs=] were forced to build a bridge over the River Kwai, but that's just about the only thing in the film that wasn't made-up. The real bridge was in service for two years, until it was wrecked by an Allied bomber shortly before the end of the war.
* VillainsDyingGrace: [[LesCollaborateurs Collaborator]] Nicholson manages one by default. As an English POW in a Japanese camp by Kwai River, Nicholson, having ultimately succeeding in breaking his captor's will, subsequently causes both he and his men to ''improve'' their enemy's situation by building the eponymous bridge across the river. After the Allies learn of the bridge's construction and successfully transports a former POW of said camp to that bridge to destroy it, Nicholson [[InvokedTrope naively]] [[FaceHeelTurn ensures the bridge's safety]] and [[WhatTheHellHero consequentially kills the man sent to destroy it]]. It is in this moment that Nicholson sees [[HeelRealization the fallacy in his endeavour]]. He decides to destroy the bridge himself [[spoiler: a moment before the shelling from an Allied mortar knocks him over and fatally wounds him.]] [[spoiler: [[DyingMomentOfAwesome He stands up (clearly dying), dusts off his hat, takes a few steps forward - wobbling, teetering all the way - and, as he can not take another step forward, falls on the detonator, successfully destroying the bridge]]]] before he dies.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* {{Bookends}}: A shot of a buzzard soaring in the air opens and closes the film.

* {{Bookends}}: A shot of a hawk soaring in the air opens and closes the film.

* SpotOfTea: Englishman Warden is quite fond of his tea time. Nicholson also requests a cuppa during a meeting.

* NotSoDifferent: Nicholson and Saito come to realize that they are both similar with regards to being obsessed with following the rules of their respective codes regardless of the consequences they might have for others. During their standoff with each other, both state that the other is responsible for the stalemate and any damage arising from it is the fault of the other. And both ultimately resort to completing the bridge at all costs: Saito out of a sense of duty, Nicholson out of a misplaced sense of pride.

* OnlyOneName: None of the major characters has a first name. They're simply Colonel Nicholson, Major Warden, Colonel Saito, Major Clipton, and Lieutenant Joyce. Shears also only has one name, on top of it not being his real one.

* FamousLastWords: "What have I done?"

** In fairness, Boulle himself had served as a POW in Southeast Asia and based Nicholson on several French officers he'd served with. This doesn't explain, of course, why he made the book's characters British in the first place.

* SoleSurvivor: [[spoiler: Warden is the only character to survive participating in the film's climax, as Clipton watches it unfold helplessly from afar.]]

* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler: Warden is the only main character who survives the incident.]]

* SoleSurvivor: [[spoiler: Warden is the only character to survive the film's climax, as Clipton watches it unfold helplessly from afar.]]

** The Japanese soldiers are never seen using anything except British weapons throughout the movie. The Japanese soldier on the train in the opening sequence has a variant of the Vickers machine gun, as do the soldiers in the back of the truck. All infantry are carrying either Lee Enfield (Mk III or IV) rifles or Thompson sub machine guns. There is no Japanese weapon at all in the film except for the officer's katana, or personal sword.

* BawdySong: The famous whistling scene is an attempt to get "Hitler Has Only Got One Ball" [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar past the radar]]. The song is called the "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonel_Bogey_March "Colonel Bogey March"]] and has been a favorite for adding smutty lyrics to since 1914. It was supposedly inspired by an officer who whistled the first two notes instead of shouting "fore" on the golf course, so the song was insulting even when given its original title. Or not, considering that a "bogey" then, was what we today call a "par". Being called a scratch-player is probably NOT an insult anywhere.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The movie does not include the [[BawdySong bawdy lyrics]] associated with the ColonelBogeyMarch ("Hitler has only got one ball…"), but it clearly operates on the assumption that everyone from the war generation would know them perfectly well from just the tune. Thus in-universe the British soldiers are using it to get [[AdolfHitlarious a taunt against Hitler]] past their Axis captors' radar, and in real life this got very easily past any censors' radar.

* YouExclamation: As the climactic firefight breaks out between Warden's commandos and the Japanese soldiers guarding the bridge, Shears swims to the bank to confront Nicholson over revealing the explosive charges to the Japanese. However, he is mortally wounded before he gets there, and the exchange consists of just two words:

A British battalion is captured in Thailand and sent to a Japanese prison camp run by Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa). Notable among the prisoners are Lt. Colonel Nicholson (Creator/AlecGuinness), the battalion's commander, and Major Clipton (James Donald), a medical officer.