The Bridge Over the River Kwai

I recently finished reading The Bridge Over the River Kwai by Piere Boulle. I decided to read the book because I have enjoyed the film by the same name directed by David Lean. I usually read the book that forms the basis for a film after watching the film. I find when I read the book first, and then watch the film, I am usually disappointed. However, if I see the film first, and then read the book, with all the extra details, I enjoy that much better.

Part of the enjoyment is to see how the film differs from the book. I don't think a filmaker has to slavishly follow a book. They are two different mediums. What works well in a book sometimes doesn't work that well in a film. In addition, as an artist, the filmaker has the freedom to make his own choices.

So, for example, one major difference between the book and film - in the book, the bridge was not blown up. The screenwriters and David Lean felt this wouldn't work as well on film, so they decided to have the bridge blown up spectaularly.

Another example - in the book, Shears is British and the leader of the commando group (No. 1). In the film, Shears is an American (played by William Holden), and is not in charge of the group, except briefly while Warden is too injured to command. Probably the filmmakers needed a well-known American actor to guarantee box office success, and so a part was rewritten for an American role. The role was enhanced by having Shears escape from Kwai prison camp, which never happened in the book.

Some get mad that the filmaker has deviated from the book. However, Boule deviated from history in order to write a good fiction book, though some history underlies the story. The Japanese did build a death railway through Burma. Of the Western prisoner of war who worked on it, most were French, including Boule himself for a time until he escaped. Nicholson and the other officers at the camp were mostly drawn from French officers Boule knew. The conditions of those who worked on the railway were much worse than depicted in the book or the film.

A bridge was built over the River Mae Klong, not the River Kwai. (This was an honest mistake by Boule.) After the film, many tourists came to Thailand looking for the bridge over the River Kwai. To fix the problem, the Thai government renamed the Mae Klong River so the tourists could find the Bridge over the River Kwai (though it is called the River Kwae).