(The bridge.) The movie was mainly filmed in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and also in England . In reply to the comment by Angelo:- The rivers Kwai-Yai and Kwai-Noi meet at a confluence just south of Kanchanaburi, at which the combined rivers become the Mae-Klong. David Lean’s classic 1957 World War II movie Bridge on the River Kwai depicted the horrors endured by the Allied prisoners of war (POWs) forced to build the Thailand-Burma railway by the Japanese Imperial Army. Bridge on the River Kwai, is the bridge that the Japanese built with civilians and Allied POV’s during WWII (1943) to complete the rail-line between Bangkok and Rangoon in Burma (now known as Yangoon in Myanmar). The 1957 movie Bridge on the River Kwai may be one of the most famous war movies ever made, winning seven Oscars including Best Picture and Best Actor for Alec Guinness. Spike from the Burma Railroad. The Bridge on the River Kwai is a British 1957 movie from Columbia Pictures, based on Pierre Boulle 's 1952 book The Bridge over the River Kwai ( French: Le Pont de la Rivière Kwai ). The Bridge on the River Kwai, British-American war film, released in 1957 and directed by David Lean, that was both a critical and popular success and became an enduring classic. The section shown in the picture is not a part of the famous bridge, but part of the Whampo viaduct beside the river. As many as 12,000 people perished during the construction. The real bridge is of course in Thailand in a place called Kanchanaburi which is often included on many day tours from Bangkok. By the way, the real Kwai River was just a trickle near Burma, where Boulle set his bridge; the actual bridge had been built 200 miles away, near Bangkok. The Mekong is in Viet-Nam. Learn how to create your own. The Bridge on the River Kwai, Kanchanaburi, Thailand. It is : fifty five kilometres north of Nong Pladuk (also known as Non Pladuk) and five kilometres north of Kanchanaburi. The movie garnered seven Academy Awards , including that for best picture, as well as … Tamarkan camp was adjacent to the two bridges which spanned the Mae Klong River (renamed Kwai Yai River in 1970). Leadership and Team Work Analysis: “The Bridge on the River Kwai” Location: Japanese camp for prisoners of war in Burma Year: The year 1943 A defeated British soldiers Unit marched into a Japanese prison camp in west Thailand to build a bridge over the Kwai River to bring a new railway line to invade Burma in the wake of World War II. In 1941 the Japanese Army invaded Thailand. But the reality was a bit different than the movie. 6°59'07.0"N 80°25'33.0"E, Kelani River, Sri Lanka. The Bridge over the River Kwai (French: Le Pont de la rivière Kwaï) is a novel by the French novelist Pierre Boulle, published in French in 1952 and English translation by Xan Fielding in 1954. That isn’t anywhere near as aesthetically pleasing as the one that was portrayed in the film. Interesting? This map was created by a user.