Beyond iconic - at heart it's some old friends, the escape from prison film and the guys on a mission to blow something up movie. It's elevated via the battle of wits between Alec Guiness' stuffy British officer and Sessue Hayakwa's Japanese officer, and the beautiful handling of Lean. I saw this recently on my computer - but I've seen it in the cinema and know that that's the way to see it, so you can appreciate the beauty of Lean's direction.
Random observations:
- William Holden deserved his massive pay packet. No one else combined cynicism and heroism as well, at least not then. And he's fantastic at the end scowling at Guiness as he dies.
- Geoffrey Horne's part is interesting. A former accountant, Canadian, heart throb, with a weirdly clunky "arrc" about whether he'd be able to stab someone (he says he's not sure and he's allowed to go on the mission... would they want him after he'd admitted that?) What happened to Horne? He gets a lot of screentime. I mean he gets to kill Hayakawa and has this fantastic scene where he can't kill Guiness even though he should.
- Jack Hawkins is great. Rugged idealist. Overlooked in the praise because he plays the least neurotic but he's good.
- Terrifically suspenseful finale with Horne, Holden and Hawkins ready to blow up the bridge but separated, and Guiness figuring out something's going on, and the train on its way.
- Lovely moment where Sessue Hayakawa cries.
- The guys on a misison have a trio of hot Thai women with them to wash their hair and shave them. Did this ever happen? But it does give the film a female presence at the end.
- The studio note to have a white woman in the film was a good one I think - the scene is entertaining (Holden romancing a nurse), it gives Western female audiences an access point.
- That training commando school scene is a lot of fun and surely influenced the Bond movies.
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