Slideshow
MERRY CHRISTMAS MR. LAWRENCE
Japan, United Kingdom, New Zealand, 1983
Directed by Nagisa Ōshima
Based on the books by Sir Laurens van der Post
With David Bowie, Tom Conti, Ryuichi Sakamoto
Approx. 123 mins. 35mm.
“In Java, in 1942, the British lieutenant colonel of the title (Tom Conti) is reunited with Jack Celliers (Mr. Bowie), a major from New Zealand whose powers of self-control and defiance seem to know no bounds. Lawrence, who understands his Japanese captors far better than any of his comrades do, must look on in helpless understanding as they marvel at Celliers's remarkable strength of spirit and ultimately respond to it with savagery and fear.” – The New York Times
Reviews
“From Oshima's later career... most notable is this bilingual, end-of-WWII tearjerker about forgiveness and understanding between cultures, which could have been dubbed The Man Who Fell to Java.”
– Aaron Hillis, The Village Voice