Unless I missed it, there was no explanation in the film for the dropping of the level of the river water after the explosives were put in place to explode the bridge.
Unlike the seas, rivers are not affected by tides - unless it's a huge body of water, which this river wasn't.
Anyone care to comment?
It's mostly a plot device. The water level in a river can be affected by blockage or the amount of rainfall upstream.
shareRainfall in that part of the world can be torential and stop on a dime (we see this set up early in the film). The level of a river like the Kwai can rise or fall several feet overnight -- as depicted.
shareThat might be true, but it doesn't get around the fact that a 'carefully planned' military mission was taken by surprise by it and you weren't.
shareYou're quite right. I can't think of a single "carefully planned" military mission that was ever taken by surprise by changes in the weather. As for me, well, I'll just have to consider myself properly scolded and watch myself in the future. Okay?
shareThe demolition of the bridge wasn't so carefully planned. It was a rush job. They only learned of the train passage, after they had parachuted into the jungle. They had to force-march, just to get there on time.
The irony was that Warden's credo was, "There's always the unexpected...," yet it was he who failed to recognize that the river might go down, and because of his short-sightedness, he's the only member of the team who survived.
Madness!
Not uncommon at all for rivers to rise and fall with changes in rainfall.
share