Academy Award for Best Picture

1957

Release date

October 2,  1957

Starring

William Holden

Alec Guinness

Jack Hawkins

Sessue Hayakawa

The Bridge on the River Kwai is a 1957 British World War II film directed by David Lean, based on the eponymous French novel (1952) by Pierre Boulle. The film is a work of fiction but borrows the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942–43 for its historical setting. It stars William Holden, Jack Hawkins, Alec Guinness and Sessue Hayakawa. The movie was filmed in Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka). The bridge in the film was located near Kitulgala.

The film achieved near-universal critical acclaim, winning seven Academy Awards (including Best Picture) at the 30th Academy Awards, and in 1997 this film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected for preservation in the United States Library of Congress National Film Registry. It is widely considered to be one of the greatest films of all time.