At 80 years old, political strategist and author James Carville shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Notably, he navigated several key Democratic campaigns before helping Bill Clinton secure the presidency in 1992. Since then, he has maintained a familiar presence on cable news as a political pundit. He also co-hosts the podcast Politics War Room alongside journalist Al Hunt. And you can gain a lot more insight into what makes him tick with Matt Tyrnauer’s new documentary Carville: Winning is Everything, Stupid. The film highlights Carville’s significant role behind the scenes in the Democratic Party and his impact on this year’s presidential campaign.
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For his Treat, Carville reveals why he watches the opening of the 1957 classic The Bridge on the River Kwai almost every night. The film won multiple Oscars, including Best Director for David Lean and Best Actor for star Alec Guinness. The epic war film is based on Pierre Boulle's 1952 novel and follows British POWs who are forced to construct a railway bridge for their Japanese captors in occupied Burma. Colonel Nicholson, played by Alec Guinness, stands out as a defiant figure, embodying the spirit of resistance that resonates with Carville. He says that the film inspires him because it shows that nobody can have ownership over you — circumstances be damned.
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This segment has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Almost every night I watch the opening of The Bridge on the River Kwai. And why do I do that? Because of the defiance in [Colonel] Nicholson's face and the back and forth between [him] and the commandant. You just look at that and you say, ‘This motherf**ker’s not giving up man, he's defiant.’ And I just always loved that. I loved the theme, you know, it was by British soldiers but it was [essentially saying] you don't own me.
I've probably seen it, I don't know how many times, but that opening scene, to me was … you don't own me. You may have all the power in the world over me, but you don't own me. And I mean, if you think of the real people that have changed the world… Nicholson [the character] was a cranky old British upper-class guy, but he did have that real defiance in a way that people do and that inspires me.
You know the movie is good if you are kind of 20% pulling for the other side. You didn't really hate the guy. He just had, he got a lot of pressure from Tokyo. He had to get the bridge done. He had to, you know, he was scared. You just could see it was a very human thing.
The reason I was inspired is, no matter where you are, how much sh**t you've taken, how much power there is over you — there's certain people that are just defiant. That's what this movie told me.