Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (戦場のメリークリスマス, Senjō no Merī Kurisumasu) (1983)
Directed by Nagisa Ōshima
Based on The Seed and the Sower 1963 novel by Sir Laurens van der Post
Starring: David Bowie, Tom Conti, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Takeshi Kitano, Jack Thompson
Music by Ryuichi Sakamoto
Plot Synopsis: (via IMDb)
During WWII, a British colonel tries to bridge the cultural divides between a British POW and the Japanese camp commander in order to avoid bloodshed.
My Opinion:
This is a fantastic, beautiful, heartbreaking film. Instant five stars on Letterboxd & a new favorite for me. Why is this not talked about as much as other war movies? And how had I not yet seen this when I ADORE David Bowie & the theme has long been an all-time favorite piece of music?! Ryuichi Sakamoto’s score is a masterpiece. As is this film, which I didn’t expect to live up to the music. But it did.
I’ll start with Sakamoto, who I didn’t at first know had also starred in this film as well as composing the music. What a genius – multi-talented people amaze me. He had such a great chemistry here with Bowie. The tension was palpable. And Bowie was brilliant in this, too. I’m a big fan of his but admit that music was his biggest talent and his acting was, at times, a bit dodgy (but I don’t care as I think charisma is more important). This is easily his best performance, besides a couple of moments when the acting was a TINY bit off. I admit it. But it didn’t at all take away from the overall film. The characters were so well-developed & the film left me feeling devastated in that way in which the very best war films can affect you. I always say I don’t like this genre but I’ve seen all the best examples and, when war films are good, they’re VERY good. I’ve ranked this very high in my list of war films.
Am I the only one who assumed for years that Bowie was Mr. Lawrence?? Tom Conti is absolutely brilliant in this role & it’s a shame I think he’s maybe a bit overshadowed just because everyone knows that two big musical geniuses star in this. I certainly only wanted to watch this in the first place because of Bowie & Sakamoto but Conti is the proper “actor” here & he’s amazing. Can’t believe I’ve seen him in very few other films besides this one. Was also very interested in seeing Takeshi Kitano in this (love Battle Royale). He has a much bigger & more important role in this than I was expecting. He’s great playing a more complex character than he at first seems.
This film very much focuses just on the relationships formed within this prisoner of war camp, so you don’t see big action scenes. Maybe that’s why you hear less about this one as war movies portraying the violence of battle are so popular, but I preferred the focus being strictly on the characters with war being the backdrop. Felt very personal. I know plenty of others have done this brilliantly too, such as The Great Escape & Stalag 17 (also love those), but expect seeing even less of an actual war going on if you watch this one. This is the type of film I love. Strong characters, gorgeous score, and haunting scenes that stayed with me long after the movie finished. Brilliant film.
Easily my favorite film watched this year. Can’t see anything knocking this out of first place (but I’m trying to watch as many worthy films as I can this year).
My Rating: 9/10
Cinema Parrot Disco 