“The complexity and the paradoxes really stayed with me”: Ron Howard names his favourite war movie
The directorial career of Ron Howard has been largely characterised by no genre being off-limits for the filmmaker, with almost half a century’s worth of movies having touched base with almost everything cinema has to offer.
There’s one glaring exception, though, and it’s the war story. Ever since making his feature-length debut behind the camera on Grand Theft Auto, Howard has refused to let himself become boxed in by any one particular mode of storytelling, which has played a huge part in his longevity.
He didn’t become one of the most commercially successful and reliably consistent directors in the business by remaining stuck in the same sandbox, even if the war drama remains a curious omission. That being said, he holds once classic in such high regard that it may have put him off the idea because the sway it held over him would no doubt be lurking at the back of his mind the entire time.
Helmed by one of the all-time greats in David Lean, and boasting an ensemble stacked to the brim with powerhouse performers, The Bridge on the River Kwai lived up to its pedigree by becoming the highest-grossing release of 1957 and coming agonisingly close to completing a clean sweep at the Academy Awards.
Shortlisted for eight Oscars including ‘Best Picture’, ‘Best Director’, ‘Best Actor’, and ‘Best Adapted Screenplay’, the adaptation of Pierre Boulle’s novel won seven of them, with Sessue Hayakawa’s failure to be named as the victor in the ‘Best Supporting Actor’ category the solitary outlier.
For Howard, The Bridge on the River Kwai was “a movie that I literally studied and saw over and over again.” As he explained to A.Frame, he was so enthralled by the story, setting, and characters that he didn’t even realise it was inspired by a true story until he’d experienced multiple viewings.
“And then, I learned that it was, and that impressed me. I loved history, but I didn’t think about history as a jumping off point for great drama and great performances,” he offered. “But the complexity and the paradoxes in the characters really stayed with me, and the fact that the movie was inspired by real events shaped my thinking about what true stories could offer audiences.”
It wasn’t until his 11th feature that Howard took the plunge and directed a film ripped directly and authentically from real-life events, acknowledging he was “terrified” by the prospect of doing it, thinking he’d be “limited in the way the characters could behave and what they could really say and do.” The end result was Apollo 13, and it ended up becoming known as one of his very best.
In Howard’s estimation, The Bridge on the River Kwai “convinced me of the value and power, and the cinematic potential, and the drama that could be had around a movie based on real events,” and one of the greatest ever made is a solid way of stumbling upon that realisation.
