Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence Movie Review 1983

An often overlooked drama about a WWII Japanese POW camp. Taut psychological drama about clashing cultures and physical and emotional survival focusing on the tensions between Bowie as a British POW and camp commander Sakamato, who also composed the outstanding score. A haunting and intense film about the horrors of war. Based on the novel by Laurens van der Post.

Distribution

Universal Studios Home Video, 100 Universal City Plz., Universal City, CA 91608-9955, Phone: (818)777-1000, Fax: (818)866-1483, URL: http://www.universalstudios.com, Remarks: Does not handle retail queries from consumers; contact your local video distributor.

Available on VHS
Running time 124 minutes.
Originally from Japanese, British.

Cast and Crew

Genres

World War II, Rock Stars on Film, POW/MIA, Survival, Christmas, Concentration/Internment Camps

Screenplay

Nagisa Oshima, Paul Mayersberg

Cast

David Bowie, Tom Conti, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Takeshi "Beat" Kitano, Jack Thompson, Takashi Naito, Alistair Browning, Johnny Okura, Yuya Uchida, Ryunosuke Kaneda, Kan Mikami, Yuji Honma, Diasuke Iijima

Cinematography

Toichiro Narushima

Director

Nagisa Oshima

Producer

Terry Glinwood, Jeremy Thomas, Geoffrey Nethercott, Mark Huffam

Awards

Natl. Bd. of Review 1983: Actor (Conti).