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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Laurens Van der Post (novel)
Nagisa Ôshima (screenplay) ...
more
Release Date:
2 September 1983 (USA) more
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... more | add synopsis
Awards:
Won BAFTA Film Award. Another 8 wins & 6 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(3 articles)
Takashi Miike to remake Eiichi Kudo’s 1963 film ‘Thirteen Assassins’!
(From Twitch. 12 May 2009, 4:35 PM, PDT)
Thirteen Assassins gets the green light
(From FilmShaft.com. 12 May 2009, 5:14 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
Apocolypse Now plus subtlety more (54 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| 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 |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
Senjô no merî Kurisumasu (Japan)
more
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
124 min
Color:
Color (Eastmancolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.50 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
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:
Company:
Fun Stuff
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. more
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. more
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.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Stupeur et tremblements (2003) more
Soundtrack:
The Lord's My Shepherd more
FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (54 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
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| Fanfiction | DJOfRadioGallifrey |
| Furyo | jfaguiler |
| 'Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence!´ | gubar |
| That lock of hair | fellini812 |
| Gayness... | agitpop |
Recommendations
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| The Bridge on the River Kwai | Empire of the Sun | Return from the River Kwai | Nihon no ichiban nagai hi | A Savage Christmas: The Fall of Hong Kong |
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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.