The Bridge on the River Kwai Quotes

Context

This line is spoken by Major Clipton (played by James Donald) in the movie The Bridge on the River Kwai, directed David Lean (1957).

The Bridge on the River Kwai is about a bunch of WWII British POWs imprisoned in Thailand by the Japanese. When their captors force them to build a bridge, the POWs at first resist, but then kinda get into it and start to take pride in their work. Unfortunately and fortunately, the British army arrives and blows the thing up—just in time for a train to crash into the river. This line comes in the final scene, as POW Major Clipton is all freaked out by the carnage.

Here's a link (kind of like a virtual bridge) to the clip.

Where you've heard it

"Madness… madness" gets a shout-out in the movie The Wind and the Lion. Roger Ebert also specifically cites the quote in his four star review of the film. The review is included in his book 33 Movies to Restore Your Faith in Humanity. So there—now you know at least one go-to movie if you ever need your faith in humanity restored.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

Well, it was originally said by a Brit, so that's worth at least two points on the pretentious scale right there.