The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
A classic for good reasons. For a war film it is almost calm with how it is entirely set in this little microcosm of a camp of captured soldiers. The actual war conflict is less important here, because it is more a conflict of different perspectives on honor and duty. Nicholson is sort of the the hero, at least at first, not afraid to be prideful and somewhat stubborn to stand up for what he believe is the right values to uphold. His counterpart in Saito is more aggressive but not a bad man per se, just with a different honor code. Shears represents a whole different view with is lack of honor and duty as he tries to escape through lies and deceptions. What makes this movie great is how these three men all have to face the consequences of their way of thinking and how it might backfire. Clipton’s final remark sums everything up perfectly.
Rating: 4