Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Nagisa Oshima

Writers:

Paul Mayersberg (writer)
Nagisa Oshima (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

2 September 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Tagline:

Java, 1942 - A clash of cultures, a test of the human spirit.

Plot:

In 1942 British soldier Jack Celliers comes to a japanese prison camp. The camp is run by Yonoi, who has a firm belief in discipline...

Plot Keywords:

Lieutenant | Japanese | British | Colonel | Indonesia

Awards:

Won BAFTA Film Award. Another 8 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

David Bowie	...	Maj. Jack 'Strafer' Celliers
Tom Conti	...	Col. John Lawrence
Ryuichi Sakamoto	...	Capt. Yonoi
Takeshi Kitano	...	Sgt. Gengo Hara (as Takeshi)
Jack Thompson	...	Group Capt. Hicksley
Johnny Okura	...	Kanemoto (as Johnny Ohkura)
Alistair Browning	...	De Jong
James Malcolm	...	Celliers' Brother
Chris Broun	...	Celliers aged 12
Yuya Uchida	...	Commandant of Military Prison
Ryunosuke Kaneda	...	President of the Court
Takashi Naitô	...	Lt. Iwata
Tamio Ishikura	...	Prosecutor
Rokko Toura	...	Interpreter
Kan Mikami	...	Lt. Ito
Yuji Honma	...	Pfc. Yajima
Daisuke Iijima	...	Cpl. Ueki
Hideo Murota	...	New Camp Commandant
Barry Dorking	...	Chief Doctor
Geoff Clendon	...	Australian Doctor
Grant Bridger	...	P.O.W. Officer
Richard Adams	...	P.O.W
Geoff Allen	...	P.O.W
Michael Baxter-Law	...	P.O.W.
Mark Berg	...	P.O.W
Marcus Campbell	...	P.O.W
Colin Francis	...	P.O.W
Richard Hensby	...	P.O.W
Richard Hoare	...	P.O.W
Martin Ibbertson	...	P.O.W
Rob Jayne	...	P.O.W
Richard Mills	...	P.O.W
Mark Penrose	...	P.O.W
Arthur Ranford	...	P.O.W
Steve Smith	...	P.O.W
Stephen Taylor	...	P.O.W
Richard Zimmerman	...	P.O.W
Ian Miller	...	English Guard
Don Stevens	...	Pastor
Yoichi Iijima	...	Japanese Soldier
Satoshi Ito	...	Japanese Soldier
Masaki Kusakabe	...	Japanese Soldier
Kunihide Kuruma	...	Japanese Soldier
Hiroshi Mikami	...	Japanese Soldier
Akihiro Masuda	...	Japanese Soldier
Tokuhisa Masuda	...	Japanese Soldier
Takeshi Nagasawa	...	Japanese Soldier
Takashi Odashima	...	Japanese Soldier
Masanori Okada	...	Japanese Soldier
Shoetsu Sato	...	Japanese Soldier
Rintaro Shibata	...	Japanese Soldier
Masamichi Shibasaki	...	Japanese Soldier
Kaname Shimura	...	Japanese Soldier
Kenzo Shirahama	...	Japanese Soldier
Hisao Takeda	...	Japanese Soldier
Hidenobu Togo	...	Japanese Soldier
Atsuo Yamashita	...	Japanese Soldier
Heiwa Yoshihara	...	Japanese Soldier
Takeshi Yu	...	Japanese Soldier

Directed by
Nagisa Oshima

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Paul Mayersberg		writer
Nagisa Oshima		screenplay
Laurens Van der Post		novel "The Seed And the Sower"

Produced by
Terry Glinwood	....	executive producer
Masato Hara	....	executive producer
Joyce Herlihy	....	associate producer
Geoffrey Nethercott	....	executive producer
Eiko Oshima	....	executive producer
Larry Parr	....	associate producer
Jeremy Thomas	....	producer

Original Music by
Ryuichi Sakamoto

Cinematography by
Toichiro Narushima		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Tomoyo Oshima

Production Design by
Jusho Toda

Art Direction by
Andrew Sanders

Makeup Department
Antony Clavet	....	makeup supervisor
Glenis Daly	....	hair stylist
Bryony Hurden	....	makeup assistant
Robern Pickering	....	chief makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jonty Barraud	....	second assistant director
Geoffrey Hill	....	third assistant director
Lee Tamahori	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Masaru Arakawa	....	set dresser
Lyn Bergquist	....	property buyer
Kyoichi Hashimoto	....	construction manager
Tetsuya Hataya	....	assistant art director
Trevor Haysom	....	stand-by props assistant
Ryoichi Kamon	....	construction technician
Masaaki Kobayashi	....	construction technician
Bryan McDonald	....	property assistant
Kazumasa Nomura	....	assistant art director
Chris Paulger	....	stand-by props
Pam Sebold	....	property assistant
Yutaka Wakase	....	construction technician
Shoichi Yasuda	....	property master

Sound Department
Eugene Arts	....	boom operator
Akira Honma	....	dubbing mixer
Akira Honma	....	sound effects
Mikio Mori	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby
Mike Westgate	....	sound recordist

Special Effects by
Kevin Chisnall	....	special effects supervisor

Visual Effects by
Shulamit Levin	....	digital restoration (2007 restored version)

Camera and Electrical Department
Rick Allender	....	clapper loader
Ian Beale	....	electrician
Dennis Cullen	....	grip
Tex Foot	....	generator operator
Ken George	....	still photographer
Brian Harris	....	key grip
Don Jowsey	....	best boy
Geoff Maine	....	electrician
Warren Mearns	....	gaffer
Brendon Mune	....	electrician
Jeff O'Donnell	....	grip
Ian Philp	....	electrician
Andy Roelants	....	focus puller
Hiroaki Sugimura	....	camera operator
Takashi Ueno	....	still photographer

Casting Department
Diana Rowan	....	casting: New Zealand
Takashi Ueno	....	casting: Japan

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Norman Forsey	....	wardrobe assistant
Leslie Gilda	....	wardrobe assistant
Kazuo Matsuda	....	wardrobe master
Christine West	....	wardrobe supervisor

Editorial Department
Kimie Kawagishi	....	negative cutter
Kenichi Takashima	....	assistant film editor

Transportation Department
Robin Allen-Paris	....	transportation manager (as Robin Allen)

Other crew
Vivien Bridgewater	....	production secretary
Sevilla Delofski	....	assistant to producer
Didi Dickson	....	interpreter
Mitsue Fujita	....	assistant production accountant
Ralph Gardiner	....	armorer
Tony Hedges	....	production accountant
Margaret Hilliard	....	production coordinator
Raijin Nakahata	....	continuity
Lynne Newport	....	assistant production accountant
Susan Nicholas	....	nurse
Roger Pulvers	....	assistant to director
Roger Pulvers	....	dialogue coach
Takashi Shirai	....	location manager
Kuniko Usui	....	production assistant
Kansai Yamamoto	....	concept designer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Asahi National Broadcasting Company
• Cineventure Productions London
• National Film Trustees
• Oshima Productions
• Recorded Picture Company (RPC)

Distributors

• Shochiku Company (1983) (Japan) (theatrical)
• A.A.A. Soprofilm Distribution (1983) (France) (theatrical)
• Palace Pictures (1983) (UK) (theatrical)
• Svensk Filmindustri (SF) (1983) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (1983) (USA) (theatrical)
• Nippon Herald Films (1990) (Japan) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (1992) (USA) (VHS)
• Artisan Entertainment (1999) (USA) (VHS)
• EuroVideo (1999) (Germany) (DVD)
• Second Sight Films (2000) (UK) (DVD)
• TF1 Vidéo (2000) (France) (DVD)
• Video Film Express (2001) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• LW Editora (2002) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Pony Canyon (2004) (Japan) (DVD)
• BS11 Digital (2007) (Japan) (TV)
• Criterion Collection, The (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Palace Video (1983) (UK) (VHS)
• Palace Video (1983) (UK) (video) (Betamax)
• Palace Video (1983) (UK) (video) (video 2000)

Other Companies

• Dolby Laboratories  sound mix
• Dreamachine  international sales

Also Known As:

Senjô no merî Kurisumasu (Japan)

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

UK | Japan

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.50 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Italy:VM14 | Portugal:M/16 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Auckland, New Zealand

Company:

Asahi National Broadcasting Company

Trivia:

First English language movie to feature Takeshi Kitano

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the final scene in the prison cell, the cross belt of Lt Col Lawrence's Sam Browne is fitted back to front.

Quotes:

Colonel Lawrence: God, I wish they'd stop hitting me.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 100 Years of Japanese Cinema (1994) (TV)

Two pop stars and a comedian turn out to be really good in war atrocity film

When this movie first came out, I remember the movie critics were very snippy about David Bowie's apparently "spaced out" performance. In actual fact he demonstrated an ability to genuinely dig deep into a complex emotional pit to produce an incredibly watchable performance. In addition, the casting of Bowie "against type" enables one to see more in Jack Cellier than the typical quiet British War Hero with a tragic past. Just by dint of his being played by Bowie adds a necessary varnish of mysteriousness and removes the possibility of clichéd playing.

Ryuichi Sakamoto similarly was able to completely subsume his pop-icon persona into a utterly convincing portrayal of an honourable but damaged Japanese army officer. In my view his is one of the greatest performances by a Japanese actor in an English language film. Scenes between Bowie and Sakamoto are rare, but well worth the wait.

Takeshi Kitano (famous Japanese comedian "Beat" Takeshi, more recently a renowned director) brilliantly performs as the typically brutal camp sergeant, and then successfully shows that even this character is not actually all bad: he has a sense of humour; he has a family who miss him.

Tom Conti gave one of his finest film performances as the utterly human liaison officer, the Mr Lawrence of the title. Jack Thompson does the bluff British officer (being Australian, perhaps he overdoes the "Now look heah!" accent a little) - and then, at the point of facing a summary execution, he gives out a harrowing, quavering cry, showing the complete collapse of his stiff upper lip.

It can be difficult to "get" exactly what this movie is about - Cellier and his hunchback brother? Lawrence trying to keep the peace until all his best efforts appear to result in his own death, and how he handles that? The relationship between Cellier and Yonoi? The point is that as a movie, it really doesn't matter. It's an actors' movie, and the best thing is just to watch the brilliant performances.