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Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
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.
1983 · Directed by Nagisa Ōshima · 124 min · Drama · History · War · 18 frames
Tagline
Java, 1942 — A clash of cultures, a test of the human spirit.
Crew
- Screenplay: Nagisa Ōshima, Paul Mayersberg
- Cinematography: Tōichirō Narushima
- Edited by: Tomoyo Oshima
- Music: Ryuichi Sakamoto
- Production design: Shigemasa Toda
- Produced by: Jeremy Thomas
Cast
- David Bowie as Celliers
- Tom Conti as Lawrence
- Ryuichi Sakamoto as Yonoi
- Takeshi Kitano as Hara
- Jack Thompson as Hicksley
- Johnny Ohkura as Kanemoto
- Alistair Browning as De Jong
- James Malcolm as Celliers' Brother
- Chris Broun as Celliers (12 Years)
- Yuya Uchida as Commandant of Military Prison
Production
- Country: Japan, New Zealand, United Kingdom
- Language: English, Japanese
- Studios: Recorded Picture Company, National Film Trustee Company, Antares-Nova, Oshima Productions
- Box office: $2,306,560
- Themes: based on novel or book, war crimes, world war ii, prisoner of war, pacific war, court martial, prison camp, meditative, 1940s, java, indonesia
More by Nagisa Ōshima
On this film
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