The Brige on the River Kwai is a 1957 World War II film based on the novel Le Pont de la Rivière Kwaï by French writer Pierre Boulle. The film is a work of fiction but borrows the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942-43 for its historical setting. It was directed by David Lean and stars Alec Guinness, Sessue Hayakawa, Jack Hawkins and William Holden.