MovieChat Forums > The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) Discussion > Do you approve of Nicholson's actions?

Do you approve of Nicholson's actions?

posted 15 years ago by blippster
13 replies | jump to latest

I may be in the minority here, but I think the film actually showed Nicholson's actions in a good light. His strict view that his officer's not be forced to work may seem silly nowadays in a post-Aristocracy world, but in those days it was not so far fetched.

It seems the British mentality that once you give up your laws you begin to give up your very self and morality. Nicholson's firm stance on the matter led to a boost in the morale of his men, and stopped the Japanese guards from conquering the men's self esteem.

Nicholson's obsession with building the bridge, while a side-effect of his time in the Oven, was not particularly a bad thing. Like he stated, it gave his men something to do to keep their morale high. Every one needs something to work for, and in a POW camp there is little else that you can.

It is of course regrettable that Nicholson's obsession with the Bridge meant that he could not work out what was going on in the end with the explosives and didn't realise it was a British Operation, but Nicholson still did the right thing in the end, once he realised what was going on.

The deaths of Shears and Joyce (and his own) were regrettable but accidental. There was nothing accidental about the upkeep of morale that Nicholson created in the camp.

I consider Nicholson a hero and nothing less. His mind perhaps wasn't there, but his heart was in the rightest of places.

"Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't nothing?"
"Oh yeah."

[–] kevmat86 14 years ago

Yes you're right. I do think he wanted to build a great bridge to show that the british were still superior. It's a different way to beat them. But in the end when he saw the explosives for him they were about to blow up a british bridge so he tried to stop it. I still think it's a noble thing because he is protecting britain in a way. And like you said he still did the right thing in the end.

[–] heyuactor 14 years ago

He did the right thing at the end, since he realized he'd been doing the wrong thing up until then--helping the enemy.

"Did you make coffee...? Make it!"--Cheyenne.

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[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] kobong 14 years ago

> Nicholson still did the right thing in the end

I don't think he set off the charges on purpose. He fainted and was out of it when he fell on the detonator, after all.

[–] heyuactor 14 years ago

True, he fell on it after being injured, somehow, but to me it looks like he was going to do it on purpose, determined to 'set off the charges,' because he saw what was really happening and asked 'What have I done?'--indicating he realized his big mistake.

"Did you make coffee...? Make it!"--Cheyenne.

[–] ronfirv 13 years ago

He fell on the detonator as he had been hit by shrapnel.
His motives had been correct - using the bridge to show the Japanese, and the world thereafter, the superiority of the British, in working, and as engineers. No doubt, nowadays he would have been accused of collusion. I don't agree.

[–] C_Veteres 12 years ago

Approve til' the point when his actions for the benefit of the British army became
more motivated with personal objectives and goals "eg.. leaving his mark in life"

[–] verdun2 12 years ago

It find it interesting he goes from hero in the middle of the movie, to collaborator, and back to hero at the end. Great job by Guiness.
v

[–] Zuider_Zee 12 years ago

It seemed to me that he was slightly mad and too gung-ho about rules, laws and traditions. His efforts were designed to boost the morale of his men but that boost was overshadowed by his abetting the enemy without realizing that he was doing so.

[–] veryhornyfox 12 years ago

He was helping the enemy in the war, so his actions were wrong.

He falls on the detonator unconscious. That being said, he was taking deliberate steps towards it just before. I think this is a deliberate grey area and it isn't clear before he passes out if he fully intends to blow it or if he hadn't made a final decision.

[–] Kawada_Kira 10 years ago

I didn't like the character. Please note, i'm not saying anything about Guinness's performance, but about the character himself. His whole crusade about refusing to have officers do manual labor just struck me as aristocratic elitism. Then there's his obvious racism and belief in the superiority of Western civilization over Asian "barbarians". I found it all extremely off-putting. Believable, though, considering the character was an officer of the British Empire. He fit the type perfectly, and it was not endearing.

The people, and the people alone, are the motive force in the making of history.
-Mao Zedong

[–] Howlin Wolf 9 years ago

I don't approve of them, but I UNDERSTAND them, for precisely the reasons you stated... so that makes it good writing, and characterisation.

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