The Bridge on the River Kwai and Kitulgala, – By Sukumar Shan Source : Sri Lankan Planters (SLP) Official FB page The movie, explores the lives of British prisoners of war being held at a Japanese prison camp in Burma, was filmed in Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon) near the town of Kitulgala, which is known for its rainforests, adventure sports and activities. The movie was based on the 1952 novel by Pierre Boulle. Images of the contstruction of the bridge at Kitulgala as featured in the Illustrated London Newspaper of 9th November 1957. The First Bridge Built by L&T won an Oscar for the Film! The very first bridge built by ECC was in the mid-1950s. Interestingly, it was for the film The Bridge on the River Kwai. It took nearly eight months to build the wooden bridge, and just 30 seconds to blow it up by director David Lean’s ...
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Kithulgala – iconic location of the Gem of the Silver Screen “The Bridge on the River Kwai” – By Arundathie Abeysinghe Having won seven Academy Awards, “Bridge on the River Kwai” directed by British Film Director David Lean (Sir David Lean 1908-1991) was an epic war film shot in Ceylon in 1957 aided by Chandran Rutnam (Sri Lankan film maker and entrepreneur) who collaborated local links. Adapted from the 1952 novel by Pierre Boulle (that goes by the same name) the movie was filmed in *Kithulgala, in *Ratnapura District, perched on the western edge of Sri Lanka’s Hill Country. A makeshift bridge was constructed over the *Kelani River for the movie, although, nothing remains at present, except the concrete foundations of the Bridge (as the railway bridge utilized in the movie was blown-up as part of the film sequel). The movie describes the tale of a group of Japanese war ...
Nov 17, 2022
Posted by eLanka admin In
Articles, Arundathie Abeysinghe
Tagged British Film, Kithulgala, Mahaweli River, Ratnapura District, River Kwai, Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan film maker and entrepreneur, William Holden
Anecdotal Tit Bits: Making “The Bridge on the River Kwai”-by Dr Michael Roberts Source:Thuppahis ONE: The Theme Tune and George Siegertsz The mainline tale about the production process in Ceylon in the composition of the outstanding film The Bridge on the River Kwai – a film based on an actual wartime commando operation involving the destruction of a bridge being built with POW labour by the Japanese war machine in Thailand – can be read at https://thuppahis.com/2021/08/02/kitulgala-and-the-classic-movie-bridge-on-the-river-kwai/ Its digital presentation has generated sideline tales from within the Sri Lankan circuit of 2021 which merit public exposure for the historical record. The Wikipedia account about the film runs thus: “The Bridge on the River Kwai is a 1957 epic war film directed by David Lean and based on the 1952 novel written by Pierre Boulle. Although the film uses the historical setting of the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942–1943, the plot and characters of Boulle’s novel and the screenplay are almost entirely fictional. The cast includes Alec ...
