Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983)

Original title

戦場のメリークリスマス

Directed by

Nagisa Ōshima

Genre

drama film, prison film, LGBTQ-related film, Christmas film

Country

New Zealand, United Kingdom, Japan

Runtime

2h 03m

Rated

R

Rating

7.3 of 10 from 528 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

During World War II, a British officer is held in a Japanese prisoner of war camp in Java. The story examines the clash of cultures and the tense relationships between the prisoners and their captors.

tensemelancholicslow-burnemotionally restrainedunsettlingsomberbroodingpoignant

What happens

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (Japanese: 戦場のメリークリスマス, Hepburn: Senjō no Merī Kurisumasu; lit. 'Battlefield's Merry Christmas'), also known as Furyo (俘虜, Prisoner of War), is a 1983 war film co-written and directed by Nagisa Ōshima, co-written by Paul Mayersberg, and produced by Jeremy Thomas. The film is based on the experiences of Sir Laurens van der Post (portrayed by Tom Conti as Lt. Col. John Lawrence) as a prisoner of war in Java (Japanese-occupied Dutch East Indies) during World War II, as depicted in his books The Seed and the Sower (1963) and The Night of the New Moon (1970). It stars David Bowie, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Takeshi Kitano and Jack Thompson; Sakamoto also composed and played the score, including the vocal version of the main theme, "Forbidden Colours", with lyrics written and sung by David Sylvian. The film was entered into the 1983 Cannes Film Festival in competition for the Palme d'Or. Sakamoto's score won the film a BAFTA Award for Best Film Music. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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