The Bridge on the River Kwai, both the movie and the novel, are based on the real-life construction of the Burma Railway, also known as the Death Railway, during World War II. While the movie dramatizes events, the story is largely fictional, but it highlights the brutal realities faced by prisoners of war during the construction of the railway.
The Bridge on the River Kwai is a 1957 epic war film directed by David Lean and based on the novel The Bridge over the River Kwai, written by Pierre Boulle.