Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)

Director:

Nagisa Ôshima

Writers:

Laurens Van der Post (novel)
Nagisa Ôshima (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

2 September 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Tagline:

Java, 1942 - A clash of cultures, a test of the human spirit.

Plot:

In 1942 British soldier Jack Celliers comes to a japanese prison camp. The camp is run by Yonoi, who has a firm belief in discipline...

Plot Keywords:

Japanese | British Soldier | Soldier | British | Prison

Awards:

Won BAFTA Film Award. Another 8 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

David Bowie	...	Maj. Jack 'Strafer' Celliers
Tom Conti	...	Col. John Lawrence
Ryûichi Sakamoto	...	Capt. Yonoi
Takeshi Kitano	...	Sgt. Gengo Hara (as Takeshi)
Jack Thompson	...	Group Capt. Hicksley
Johnny Okura	...	Kanemoto (as Johnny Ohkura)
Alistair Browning	...	De Jong
James Malcolm	...	Celliers' Brother
Chris Broun	...	Celliers aged 12
Yûya Uchida	...	Commandant of Military Prison
Ryunosuke Kaneda	...	President of the Court
Takashi Naitô	...	Lt. Iwata
Tamio Ishikura	...	Prosecutor
Rokko Toura	...	Interpreter
Kan Mikami	...	Lt. Ito

Also Known As:

Senjô no merî Kurisumasu (Japan)

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

UK | Japan

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.50 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Italy:VM14 | Portugal:M/16 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Auckland, New Zealand

Company:

Asahi National Broadcasting Company

Trivia:

As Celliers is wearing a slouch hat typical of Australian troops, it could be assumed that he is in the Australian Army. However, the colour patch on the puggaree (hat band) is vertically divided (Australian colour patches were divided horizontally) and lacks the grey background that the Australian colour patches had. It is also noted that British troops in India also wore a similar hat.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the final scene in the prison cell, the cross belt of Lt Col Lawrence's Sam Browne is fitted back to front.

Quotes:

Group Capt. Hicksley: You know you don't have to obey this man, Lawrence.
Colonel Lawrence: Well, I'm the liaison officer, so I'm liaising.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Stupeur et tremblements (2003)

Soundtrack:

The Lord's My Shepherd

Apocolypse Now plus subtlety

I have to applaud and second the reviewer who gives this film 10/10 and who thinks the current 6.9 average must be a result of many people not watching to the end. I think it's the result of many viewers not appreciating the art, subtlety, and deeply UNnationalistic message. In a country rife with jingoism, the message that no one is "right" when waging war (and especially commiting atrocity)will not be especially popular. After living three years in Japan, I can understand how American (and indeed Western)independence and confidence can be perceived as(and even sometimes are)arrogance and ethonocentricity.

The movie looks at what it means to be human and afraid. It examines how shame and cowardice haunt most men of noble heart. It reveals our commonalities to be undeniably more powerful and real than our transitory differences. It shows how truly stupid man must be to perpetuate the horrors of warfare and to mar his soul by using power to hurt others.

It's a 10/10 in my book, but realistically speaking, if most people agreed, well, there wouldn't be any grist for this mill.