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.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.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.
- Won 1 BAFTA Award
- 10 wins & 8 nominations total
Takeshi Kitano
- Hara
- (as Takeshi)
Johnny Ôkura
- Kanemoto
- (as Johnny Ohkura)
Yûya Uchida
- Commandant of Military Prison
- (as Yuya Uchida)
Ryûnosuke Kaneda
- President of the Court
- (as Ryunosuke Kaneda)
Takashi Naitô
- Lieutenant Iwata
- (as Takashi Naito)
Rokkô Toura
- Interpreter
- (as Rokko Toura)
Yûji Honma
- PFC Yajima
- (as Yuji Honma)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAccording to David Bowie, Nagisa Ôshima directed the Japanese actors with great detail. But when it came to the British actors, they were told to "do whatever it is you people do".
- GoofsIn the final scene in the prison cell, the cross belt of Lt Col Lawrence's Sam Browne is fitted back to front.
- Quotes
Col. John Lawrence: You are the victim of men who think they are right... Just as one day you and captain Yonoi believed absolutely that you were right. And the truth is of course that nobody is right...
- ConnectionsFeatured in David Sylvian & Ryuichi Sakamoto: Forbidden Colours (1983)
- SoundtracksRide, Ride, Ride (Celliers' Brother's Song)
Composed by Stephen McCurdy
Featured review
Based on Laurens van der Post's "The Seed and the Sower", "Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence" is an involving, almost unbearably moving and incredibly humane film. While Bowie toplines, the real star is Tom Conti as the eponymous British Officer trying to reconcile his respect for Japanese culture and innate humanity with the barbarity of the POW camp. Bowie has often been criticised for his acting, yet aside from a rather laughable flashback sequence where he impersonates a schoolboy, he is convincing as a mysterious and spirited "soldier's soldier" who has a beguiling effect on the young officer commanding the camp, played by Ryuichi Sakamoto, who quotes Shakespeare and issues brutal orders in almost the same breath.
Sakamoto, who is also a pioneer of electronic music with the Yellow Magic Orchestra, also wrote the soundtrack, including the famous "Forbidden Colours" theme (you probably know this even if you don't know where it's from) which conjures up the atmosphere of regret, lost love and repressed heartbreak in which we see the strange, unrequited love of Sakamoto's character for Bowie's. This film is about this impossible unrequited love and about the struggle of human values in wartime. As Lawrence (Conti) says to a Japanese Officer facing execution after the war; he is now the victim of "men who are sure they are right", just as in the camp the Japanese were sure they were right. The last scene between the decent, humane Lawrence and this officer, who was by turns hearty and brutal in the camp, is one of the most heartbreaking ever committed to celluloid.
Sakamoto, who is also a pioneer of electronic music with the Yellow Magic Orchestra, also wrote the soundtrack, including the famous "Forbidden Colours" theme (you probably know this even if you don't know where it's from) which conjures up the atmosphere of regret, lost love and repressed heartbreak in which we see the strange, unrequited love of Sakamoto's character for Bowie's. This film is about this impossible unrequited love and about the struggle of human values in wartime. As Lawrence (Conti) says to a Japanese Officer facing execution after the war; he is now the victim of "men who are sure they are right", just as in the camp the Japanese were sure they were right. The last scene between the decent, humane Lawrence and this officer, who was by turns hearty and brutal in the camp, is one of the most heartbreaking ever committed to celluloid.
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
- Filming locations
- Rarotonga, Cook Islands(prisoners camp in Java)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $2,306,560
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $99,221
- Aug 28, 1983
- Gross worldwide
- $2,376,612
- Runtime2 hours 3 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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Top Gap
By what name was Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983) officially released in India in English?
Answer