<P> The Bridge on the River Kwai is a 1957 British - American epic war film directed by David Lean and starring William Holden , Jack Hawkins , and Alec Guinness , and featuring Sessue Hayakawa . Based on the novel Le Pont de la Rivière Kwai ( 1952 ) by Pierre Boulle , the film is a work of fiction , but borrows the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942 -- 1943 for its historical setting . The movie was filmed in Ceylon ( now Sri Lanka ) . The bridge in the film was near Kitulgala . </P>
<P> The Bridge on the River Kwai is a 1957 British - American epic war film directed by David Lean and starring William Holden , Jack Hawkins , and Alec Guinness , and featuring Sessue Hayakawa . Based on the novel Le Pont de la Rivière Kwai ( 1952 ) by Pierre Boulle , the film is a work of fiction , but borrows the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942 -- 1943 for its historical setting . The movie was filmed in Ceylon ( now Sri Lanka ) . The bridge in the film was near Kitulgala . </P>
where was the movie the bridge on the river kwai filmed
where was the movie the bridge on the river kwai filmed
Ceylon The bridge in the film was near Kitulgala
Ceylon The bridge in the film was near Kitulgala