Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983)
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Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence was the first English-language project of Japanese director Nagisa Oshima (Death by Hanging, In the Realm of the Senses). In tune with his previous filmic essays on racism and brutality, Merry Christmas concentrates on a war of wills between rebellious POW David Bowie and camp commandant Ryuichi Sakomoto. Assuming that his other prisoners' unwillingness to protest their cruel treatment is a sign of weakness, Sakomoto is most impressed by Bowie's enigmatic defiance. While Bowie and Sakomoto seem to be operating on a high spiritual and intellectual plane, bilingual prisoner Tom Conti (the "Mr. Lawrence" of the title) engages in a more standard adversarial relationship with sadistic sergeant Takeshi Kitano. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Complete Cast:
- David Bowie - Celliers
- Ryuichi Sakamoto - Yonoi
- Johnny Okura - Kanemoto
- James Malcolm - Celliers' brother
- Ryunosuke Kaneda - Col Fujimara
- Tamio Ishikura
- Beat Takeshi Kitano - Sgt. Gengo Hara
- Rokko Toura
- Hideo Murota
- Chris Broun - Cellier - younger
- Tom Conti - Col. John Lawrence
- Jack Thompson - Hicksley
- Alistair Browning - DeJong
- Yuya Uchida - Commandant
- Taketoshi Naito - Lt. lwata
- Christopher Brown - Celliers at Age 12
- Richard Adams
- Richard Mills
- Rob Jayne
- Chris Broun - Jack (boy)
- Director(s):
- Nagisa Oshima
- Writer(s):
- Nagisa Oshima, Paul Mayersberg
- Producer(s):
- Masato Hara, Terry Glinwood, Geoffrey Nethercott
- Closed Captioning:
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- Subtitles:
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- 1983 - Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence - British Academy of Film and Television Arts - Best Score
- 1983 - Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence - National Board of Review - Best Actor
