• Home
  • News
  • Top Picks
    • Movies & Films: Top 25
    • Documentaries: Top 25
    • Films For Students: Top 10
    • Music Videos: Top 10
  • Categories
    • Film
    • Documentary
    • Shorts
    • Blog
    • Calendar
    • Links
    • About

Miss Liberty's Film & Documentary World

Libertarian Movies, Films & Documentaries

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

Tagged: Creator as hero

ACADEMY AWARD WINNER: BEST PICTURE
The commander of a captured British World War II unit, ordered to build a bridge for the Imperial Japanese Army, turns the tables on his captors by going on strike. [ The Bridge on the River Kwai credits: Dir: David Lean/ Alec Guinness, William Holden, Jack Hawkins/ 166 min/ Action-Adventure/ Creator as Hero]

“An interesting story and it has at times a Randian flavor. Alec Guinness is brilliant as the British colonel who refuses to compromise his principles.”

In this story, captured British soldiers have been sent to a Japanese prisoner of war camp to work on a bridge. The Japanese commandant of the camp is under strict orders to complete the bridge by a certain date. Indeed, he’s in such a hurry to complete it that he decides to put POW officers to work, a deliberate violation of the Geneva Convention.

The lead colonel of the captured British soldiers, a stickler for the rules, responds by withdrawing his cooperation altogether. The Japanese commandant needs this colonel’s full cooperation and know-how to complete the bridge, and so makes every effort to break him, but to no avail.

In the end, the colonel’s determined independence enables him to negotiate the conditions under which his men will work, a negotiation that ironically gives him de facto control over the entire prison camp. Once in control, as a slap in the face to his captors, he insists on building the best bridge possible. He does so to show that he and his soldiers could do what the Japanese could not. There’s something of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged hero, John Galt, in this character.

Unfortunately, building a high-quality bridge for the Japanese Imperial Army is in conflict with Allied war aims — a fact he forgets until reminded by Allied guerillas.

This is certainly an interesting story and it has at times a Randian flavor. Alec Guinness is brilliant as the British colonel who refuses to compromise his principles. He gives his character an impressive nobility. Despite a somewhat depressing ending and a running time of over two-and-a-half hours, it’s also a solidly entertaining film, with a musical score you’ll be whistling for days afterward. The Bridge on the River Kwai won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

How to See It

Netflix
Amazon (DVD)
Amazon (Instant Video)
YouTube Video Search
Online Video Search

Links

IMDB
Wikipedia

Share this:

  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email

Related

Featured Post

covid response

Covid Response Pitch Meeting: Harrison Hill Smith

This hilarious skit by Comedian Harrison Hill Smith reimagines the government's initial Covid response pitch meeting among experts. If you're wondering how authorities could have made their response so haphazard and contradictory, this is one scenario. h/t Instapundit … Continue Reading

Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace (2006)

WINNER: TOP 25 LIBERTARIAN FILMS Inspired by Christian teachings against slavery, William Wilberforce leads an arduous but ultimately victorious life-long battle to abolish the slave trade. [ Amazing Grace credits: Dir: Michael Apted/ Ioan Gruffudd, Benedict Cumberbatch, Albert Finney/ 111 min/ Drama, … Continue Reading

victimless crime spree

Derrick J’s Victimless Crime Spree (2012)

WINNER: TOP 25 LIBERTARIAN DOCUMENTARIES Libertarian activist Derrick J. Freeman chronicles his arrest and incarceration for five "crimes" -- videoing police, dancing in a public place, smoking cannabis, wearing a hat in court, and riding a bike -- in a civil disobedience spree that demonstrates just how … Continue Reading

Themes

Abuse of power American revolution Anti-draft Anti-regulation Anti-slavery Anti-socialism Anti-taxation Anti-war Ayn Rand Corrupt government Creator as hero Democide Econ 101 Eminent domain Equality & law Escape from socialism Freedom of speech Free press as hero Government as bigot Government as torturer Government enforced morality Government healthcare Government schools Incompetent government Individualism John Stossel Law & liberty Legalize Drugs Libertarian heroes Libertarianism 101 Power corrupts Power worship Pro-capitalism Pro-immigration Propaganda Psychiatric coercion Resistance to tyranny Right to secede Search & seizure Second amendment Sexual liberty Social tolerance Unions & monopolies Voluntarism Working for government

Genres/Categories

Action-Adventure Animated Biography Blog Comedy Documentary Drama Family Featured Film Foreign History Horror Music-Dance Netflix News Romance SciFi-Fantasy Shorts Thriller Upcoming Western

About Miss Liberty

This site is a collection of films and documentaries of particular interest to libertarians (and those interested in libertarianism). It began as a book, Miss Liberty’s Guide to Film: Movies for the Libertarian Millennium, where many of the recommended films were first reviewed. The current collection has grown to now more than double the number in that original list, and it’s growing still.

  • RSS

© 2025 Miss Liberty's Film & Documentary World. All Rights Reserved