The Bridge on the River Kwai was required viewing for a class I'm taking. I had a choice between reading the book of the same title by Pierre Boulle or viewing the movie adaptation. I chose to watch the movie which is about 40 minutes too long. Set during World War II in a prison camp in Asia, Col. Nicholson butts heads with Col. Saito, the commandant of the prisoner of war camp that Nicholson and his men have the misfortune of landing in. When Nicholson refuses to allow himself or his fellow officers to perform hard labor in the camp (the Geneva Conventions forbid it!), Saito throws Nicholson in the oven fully expecting him to capitulate within a few hours. However, Saito sorely underestimates Nicholson's hardheadedness because the stalemate between the men lasts weeks (possibly months; it's hard to tell, but I know it lasts an hour in the movie) while Nicholson and his men bake in a dark hole. When the two men finally reach an agreement that gets Nichols...
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