<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>
bridge on the river kwai fact or fiction
bridge on the river kwai fact or fiction
fiction
fiction