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Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence poster Japanese.jpg
Original Japanese poster
Directed by Nagisa Oshima
Produced by Jeremy Thomas
Screenplay by Nagisa Oshima
Paul Mayersberg
Based on The Seed and the Sower
by Sir Laurens van der Post
Starring
Music by Ryuichi Sakamoto
Cinematography Toichiro Narushima
Edited by Tomoyo Oshima
Production
company
Recorded Picture Company
Oshima Productions
Distributed by Palace Pictures (UK)
Shochiku (Japan)
Release date
  • 25 August 1983 (1983-08-25) (United Kingdom)
Running time
123 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Japan
New Zealand
Language English
Japanese
Box office $2,306,560 (US)
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence O.S.T
Soundtrack album by Ryuichi Sakamoto
Released 1 May 1983 (Japan)
Recorded Onkio Haus, Tokyo
Genre Ambient, classical, film, synthpop, downtempo, electronic, folk, world, gamelan
Length 40:19
Label London Records
Producer Ryuichi Sakamoto
Ryuichi Sakamoto chronology
Left-Handed Dream
(1981)Left-Handed Dream1981
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
(1983)
Coda
(1983)Coda1983
Singles from Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence O.S.T
  1. "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence"
    Released: 1983
  2. "Forbidden Colours"
    Released: 1983
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 2.5/5 stars
Soundtrack Geek 58.6/100

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (Japanese: Senjō no Merī Kurisumasu (戦場のメリークリスマス, "Merry Christmas on the Battlefield"), also known in many European editions as Furyo (俘虜, Japanese for "prisoner of war"), is a 1983 British-Japanese drama film directed by Nagisa Oshima, produced by Jeremy Thomas and starring David Bowie, Tom Conti, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Takeshi Kitano and Jack Thompson.

The screenplay by Oshima with Paul Mayersberg was based on Sir Laurens van der Post's experiences as a Japanese prisoner of war during World War II as depicted in his works The Seed and the Sower (1963) and The Night of the New Moon (1970). Sakamoto also wrote the score and the vocal theme "Forbidden Colours", featuring David Sylvian.

The film was entered into the 1983 Cannes Film Festival in competition for the Palme d'Or. Sakamoto's score also won the film a BAFTA Award for Best Film Music.

The film deals with the relationships among four men in a Japanese prisoner of war camp during the Second World War — Major Jack Celliers (Bowie), a rebellious South African with a guilty secret from his youth; Captain Yonoi (Sakamoto), the young camp commandant; Lieutenant Colonel John Lawrence (Conti), a British officer who has lived in Japan and speaks Japanese fluently; and Sergeant Hara (Takeshi), who is seemingly brutal and yet humane in some ways and with whom Lawrence develops a peculiar friendship.


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