Movie Response Prompts
 
These prompts are meant to help focus your thoughts for your responses and get you thinking about what you are watching.You can respond to any of them, or, if you have another idea you would rather explore, you are free to write about that instead. Note that I suggest you examine the prompts before watching the film.
Bridge on the River Kwai, directed by David Lean; screenplay by Michael Wilson and Carl Foreman, adapted from the novel by Pierre Boulle; starring Alec Guinness, William Holden, Sessue Hayakawa, James Donald, and Jack Hawkins

Consider Colonel Nicholson, the film’s central character. What are his motivations, and is he fully conscious of them? By what criterion or criteria might they be considered admirable? What does he accomplish, other than the (extremely temporary) completion of the bridge?  What is he trying to accomplish in the film’s final scene?

Presuming you agree that Nicholson does do the wrong thing at some point, what point would that be? When he first arrives? When he is put into the “oven”? When he is taken out? Or only when he is on the bridge and sees the wire?

The penultimate scene on the bridge — as Saito looks at the sunset and Nicholson gazes into the river — is crucial to understanding both men. Everything about it, from the dialogue to the performances to the cinematography, combines to encapsulate their characters. Analyze this scene in detail.

Does the film have a hero? If so, who is it?

Major Clipton speaks the film’s final words (actually one word, which he repeats). What does he mean?
 
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