Film Snail

7.3

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence

R·1983·124m

Drama

History

War

Drama

History

War

Summary

Island of Java, 1942, during World War II. British Major Jack Celliers arrives at a Japanese prison camp, run by the strict Captain Yonoi. Colonel John Lawrence, who has a profound knowledge of Japanese culture, and Sergeant Hara, brutal and simpleton, will witness the struggle of wills between two men from very different backgrounds who are tragically destined to clash.

Cast

David Bowie

Celliers

Tom Conti

Lawrence

Ryuichi Sakamoto

Yonoi

Takeshi Kitano

Hara

Jack Thompson

Hicksley

Johnny Ohkura

Kanemoto

Alistair Browning

De Jong

James Malcolm

Celliers' Brother

Chris Broun

Celliers (12 Years)

Yuya Uchida

Commandant of Military Prison

Ryūnosuke Kaneda

President of the Court

Takashi Naito

Lieutenant Iwata

Tamio Ishikura

Prosecutor

Rokkō Toura

Interpreter

Kan Mikami

Lieutenant Itō

Yūji Honma

PFC Yajima

Daisuke Iijima

Corporal Ueki

Hideo Murota

New Commandant of Camp

Barry Dorking

Chief Doctor

Geoff Clendon

Australian Doctor

Grant Bridger

P.O.W. Officer

Richard Adams

P.O.W. #1

Geoff Allen

P.O.W. #2

Michael Baxter-Lax

P.O.W. #3

Mark Berg

P.O.W. #4

Marcus Campbell

P.O.W. #5

Colin Francis

P.O.W. #6

Richard Hensby

P.O.W. #7

Richard Hoare

P.O.W. #8

Martin Ibbertson

P.O.W. #9

Rob Jayne

P.O.W. #10

Richard Mills

P.O.W. #11

Mark Penrose

P.O.W. #12

Arthur Ranford

P.O.W. #13

Steve Smith

P.O.W. #14

Stephen Taylor

P.O.W. #15

Richard Zimmerman

P.O.W. #16

Ian Miller

English Guard

Don Stevens

Pastor

Yōichi Iijima

Japanese Soldier #1

Satoshi Itō

Japanese Soldier #2

Masaki Kusakabe

Japanese Soldier #3

Kunihide Kuruma

Japanese Soldier #4

Hiroshi Mikami

Japanese Soldier #5

Akihiro Masuda

Japanese Soldier #6

Tokuhisa Masuda

Japanese Soldier #7

Takeshi Nagasawa

Japanese Soldier #8

Takashi Odashima

Japanese Soldier #9

Masanori Okada

Japanese Soldier #10

Shoetsu Sato

Japanese Soldier #11

Rintaro Shibata

Japanese Soldier #12

Masamichi Shibasaki

Japanese Soldier #13

Kaname Shimura

Japanese Soldier #14

Kenzo Shirahama

Japanese Soldier #15

Hisao Takeda

Japanese Soldier #16

Hidenobu Togo

Japanese Soldier #17

Atsuo Yamashita

Japanese Soldier #18

Heiwa Yoshihara

Japanese Soldier #19

Takeshi Yū

Japanese Soldier #20

Crew

Director, Screenplay

Nagisa Ōshima

Novel

Laurens van der Post

Screenplay

Paul Mayersberg

Reviews

Geronimo1967

April 14, 2022

This offers a really poignant look at what we might describe as mutual insanity. "Maj. Celliers" (David Bowie) is convicted by the occupying Japanese on the island of Java on citing rebellion. With hindsight, perhaps he would rather not have been, but he is spared the firing squad and sent to the POW camp of "Col Yonoi" (Ryuichi Sakamoto) who leaves much of the day to day brutality to his henchman "Sgt. Hara" (Takeshi Kitano). Also interned is "Col. Lawrence" (a strong performance from Tom Conti) who knows a thing or two about the culture of their "hosts" and tries, as best he can, to mediate and mitigate their worst excesses. What now ensues depicts the brutality - physical and psychological employed by the sadistic "Hara" whilst interspersed with some retrospectives giving us some of the back-story of "Celliers" and his life of privilege back home. The production is rich and alluring to watch; Bowie and Sakamoto both look beautiful here - and perhaps that adds to the potency of the cruelty of the latter more. The gist of the story calls into question an whole range of emotions from the more visceral to the more profound and though it is probably a bit too long, the powerfully emotive performances are captivating. Bowie maybe wasn't the best actor ever, but here he excels and with Sakamoto provides something really quite thought provoking.