Daily Dialogue — April 25, 2016
The two men stand on the completed bridge together.
Colonel Saito: [admiring bridge] Beautiful.
Colonel Nicholson: Yes, beautiful. First rate job. I had no idea it would turn out so well.
Colonel Saito: Yes, a beautiful creation.
Colonel Nicholson: I’ve been thinking. Tomorrow it will be 28 years to the day that I’ve been in the service. 28 years in peace and war. I don’t suppose I’ve been at home more than 10 months in all that time. Still, it’s been a good life. I loved India. I wouldn’t have had it any other way. But there are times when suddenly you realize you’re nearer the end than the beginning. And you wonder, you ask yourself, what the sum total of your life represents. What difference your being there at any time made to anything. Hardly made any difference at all, really, particularly in comparison with other men’s careers. I don’t know whether that kind of thinking’s very healthy, but I must admit I’ve had some thoughts on those lines from time to time. But tonight… tonight!
— The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), screenplay by Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson, novel by Pierre Boulle
The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: War.
Trivia: Screenwriters Michael Wilson and Carl Foreman were on the blacklist of people with accused Communist ties at the time the film was made, and went uncredited. The sole writing credit, and therefore the Oscar for best adapted screenplay, went to Pierre Boulle, who wrote the original French novel but did not speak English. Clearly Pierre had not written the English script and this became a long-running controversy between the Academy and the actual authors to achieve recognition for their work. In 1984 the Academy retrospectively awarded the Oscar to Wilson and Foreman. Sadly Wilson did not live to see this; Foreman died the day after it was announced. When the film was restored, their names were added to the credits.
Dialogue On Dialogue: Nicholson’s reflections here drive home the fact that to him, it’s not just a bridge, but something much more. This dialogue makes his decision to destroy the bridge that much more powerful.