Bridge on the River Kwai

The representation of the British Soldier in “The Bridge on the River Kwai”


“Bridge on the River Kwai” tells a story of British soldiers who have been taken prisoner by the Japanese. The Japanese leader, Colonel Saito, orders the British, against the law, to construct a bridge over the Kwai River as part of a railroad that will link all Burma. The British soldiers, in this film, are represented in a very positive way, showing their commitment to being an army troop. There are many examples in the film which shows this.
Firstly, the British show their devotion to their country. This is shown at the beginning of the film where they march into the prison camp whistling “Colonel Boogie March” in unison. This shows how strong they are, even in the circumstances that they are in.
Despite being prisoners of war, Colonel Nicholson (the leader of the British troop), believes that he is somehow superior to his enemy (Japanese Colonel Saito) in intelligence and morality. After having an argument with Colonel Saito, Nicholson is sent to “the oven”, a metal sweatbox. After spending a long period of time in this “oven”, he is released to talk with the Japanese leader. Due to the conditions of the “oven”, the colonel is malnourished and extremely weak. Once released, he staggers towards the hut where Saito awaits. He does this without any help from his troops, and pushes one of the Japanese soldiers away, which shows his great deal of strength, and more importantly, pride. This gives the other British soldiers hope and makes them respect him even more.
This resulted in Saito giving the British troop a day of rest and once leaving Saito, all of the British soldiers were outside waiting for him. They ran over to him, cheered, and applauded him, which shows the great respect they have for him and what he has done. Meanwhile, Saito privately cried in shame at his loss of honor.
At one point in the film, there is a lack of man power working on the bridge and the British Colonel decided to help overcome this issue. He did this by going to the hospital and asking those able to work, to help. An emphasis on “asking” for help shows that the Colonel has respect for them, even though they are lower than him. Although the soldiers in the hospital are the Japanese’s men, the trust and friendship built with Saito, allows this to happen.
During their time spent in the prison camp, the British began to gain a lot of control over the Japanese even though they were prisoners of war. An example of this is where the British soldiers refused to work for the Japanese unless they were commanded by their own British Officers. This shows the loyalty and trust between the British soldiers and their respect for their own leaders.
Another example of the strength of the British soldiers is shown where the British Colonel says to one of the officers “Don’t you realise how important it is to show these people that they can’t break us, in body or in spirit.” and “One day the war will be over and I hope that the people who use this bridge in years to come will remember how it was built, and who built it. Not a gang of slaves, but soldiers, British soldiers, even in captivity. This shows that they do not want to be remembers as prisoners of war, but soldiers. Their pride and honor are very important to them.
This film portrays the British soldiers in a very positive way, and not in a negative way in the slightest. This film shows the respect, pride, honor and loyalty the soldiers have, proving them to be a very strong troop.