The film has shown us repeatedly stories about prisoners of war during the World War II, legendary films that have become legendary to several of his players, but sometimes the real story was far removed from reality.
The film " The Bridge on the River Kwai " was a British-American production of 1957 that led David Lean, whose adapted screenplay Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson from the novel written in 1953 by Pierre Boulle
with the same name. Was based on a true story, although not entirely true, occurred in the Tamarkan concentration camp, which provoked the anger never publicly expressed the true protagonist, Colonel Philip Toosey, whose figure inspired the novel. In the film, Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness) is an engineer and the senior officer in charge of prisoners. After getting his intention to move away from manual labor officials with some difficulty, given the Japanese collaboration in the construction of the bridge, which even the doctor ClipTone at a time of hints that it could be considered treason.
ClipTone: The Fact is, we're doing What Could Be construe as, forgive me sir, Collaboration with the enemy. Perhaps events as treasonable activity.
Nicholson: Are you all right, ClipTone? We're Prisoners of War. We Have the right to refuse work.
ClipTone: I Understand That, sir, pero Must we work so well? Must we build a Better Them Than They Could Have bridge built for Themselves?
Nicholson: If You Had to Operate on Saito, Would you do your best, or Would you let him die?
The reality was quite different, Phililip Toosey as an officer of the British Army always put the survival of his men before his own and was a great example of motivation and leadership, his life has been published in several books some including team leadership as "17 essential cases a team player" by John C. Maxwell where their lives are summarized below, is used to explain one of the qualities of the whole team management: disinterest.
was not an engineer, but had developed a promising career in banking and trade, in 1927 he enlisted in the army as a reservist with the rank of second lieutenant. In 1939 his unit was called to active duty when the war broke out in Europe where he served briefly in France. Soon they moved to the Pacific to defend the Japanese invasion of Malaya peninsula and Singapore. Toosey was promoted to lieutenant colonel and was head of Division 135 Regiment Eighteen and while he and his men struggled noticeably this season, the British forces were forced to withdraw and return Singapore.
When the British realized that surrender was inevitable he was ordered to leave his men to preserve a man of his experience, but he refused to do so.
"as an artillery officer replied that he had read the Artillery Training Manual, Volume II, which states clearly that any withdrawal, the officer in charge is the last to leave"
He knew the negative effect it would have on the morale of his men if he left, so we stayed with them and when in February 1942 Allied forces surrendered to the Japanese in Singapore, Toosey became a prisoner of war with their men and taken to POW camp in
Tamarkan (Thailand), on the banks of the river where Yai Kwea Japanese assigned the job of building two bridges, one wooden and one iron in the rail line being planned between Bangkok and Rangoon in Burma in order to invade India.
If at first refused to comply with the orders of his captors saying the Hague Treaty of 1907 ratified by the Japanese, forbidding POWs to run jobs aiding the enemy, quickly reconsidered when evaluating the important thing was not whether or not troops would carry out the work, but how many of his men might die in the camp, so he convinced his people to work on bridges. Prisoners not projected, the Japanese had their own engineers, so that the British prisoners, although Australians and New Zealanders built, never gave up boycott, termites collected and introduced into the wood of the bridge and mud mixed with cement to weaken the foundation.
Toosey Everyday he risked his life so that his men were catkins their food rations, the establishment of a regular work schedule in the camp and each week had a day off in the end his persistence was rewarded often not without suffering punishment in the sun and physical abuse, but the Japanese managed to improve the lives of Allied prisoners and for ten months while the construction of two bridges only nine prisoners were killed.
The wooden bridge was completed in February 1943 and the iron in April of that year, but these bridges were subsequently principal target of allied aircraft and suffered numerous attacks between December 1944 and June 1945, numerous reconstructions would be responsible for new prisoners in the camp.
But Philip's disinterest in Tamarkan Toosey not end, then was assigned as commander directing the hospital Tamarkan prisoner of him, did his best to continue helping their men, obtained through the black market medicine , food and other items risking his life again.
After the war, his first concern was to find the men of his regiment and make sure before leaving for England that they were fine. It took a week vacation and then returned to his old job at the bank Barings merchant.