Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence 戦場のメリークリスマス

Film

Feature Film

David Bowie stars in Nagisa Oshima’s portrait of friendship and obsession among the men confined in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp during World War II.

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Part of Queer East Festival 2021

Director: Nagisa Oshima
Runtime: 123 Mins
Year: 1983
Country: JapanUnited KingdomNew Zealand

David Bowie stars in Nagisa Oshima’s portrait of friendship and obsession among four very different men confined in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in Java during World War II. In 1942, British officer Major Jack Celliers is captured by the Japanese and taken to a camp overseen by Captain Yonoi, a man fixated on discipline and the glory of imperial Japan. As the pair become locked in an obsessive psychological battle, Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence, the only inmate with a degree of sympathy for Japanese culture, develops a friendship with Sergeant Hara, a compassionate man beneath his cruel façade. Oshima’s Palme d’Or-nominated masterpiece also stars the noted actor and director Takeshi Kitano, and marked the big screen debut of Ryuichi Sakamoto, who also composed the film’s BAFTA-winning score.

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Nagisa Oshima

Nagisa Oshima was a director and screenwriter, widely acclaimed as one of the greatest Japanese filmmakers of all time. He directed over twenty feature films, several of which were highly controversial for their ground-breaking depictions of sexuality and gender.

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Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence 戦場のメリークリスマス

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