MR. LAWRENCE MERRY CHRISTMAS Movie Review

1983 Nagisa Oshima

Though infuriating, vague, and elliptical at times, this prisoner of war drama is a true sleeper. Imagine Bridge on the River Kwai refracted through the mirror of Apocalypse Now, with two of the leads played by pop stars. Amazingly, the combination works.

In a prison camp in Java, 1942, Col. Lawrence (Tom Conti) is the unofficial liaison between the Japanese and their British prisoners. He's bilingual, and though he has some knowledge of Japanese customs and tradition, he admits that in many ways, he does not understand his captors. Even so, he is a strong advocate for tolerance of differences, and is often able to make the situation easier for both sides. An early incident of homosexual contact between a Korean guard and a wounded prisoner reveals one area where the two cultures are poles apart.

Another guard, Sgt. Hara (Takeshi Kitano) has become fairly friendly with Lawrence. But the camp commander, Capt. Yonoi (Ryuichi Sakamoto, a Japanese singer who composed the spare, haunting score) is a warrior of the old school who views the British with scorn, and refuses to accept the slightest breach of discipline within his own ranks. The fourth player is Maj. Celliers (David Bowie), a commando who has surrendered only to save a village from destruction. Though he sees himself as “a haunted person,” Celliers is as rigid and as determined as Yonoi. The two are so alike that they may even share a sexual attraction, making a clash of wills virtually inevitable. Where will it appear? How will it be resolved?

Japanese director and co-writer Nagisa Oshima does not provide all of the information that Western audiences need to understand some finer points of the conflict. An early trial seems curiously inconclusive and many parts of an extended double flashback sequence in the second half are emotionally opaque. By the end, one point is clear: Yonoi comes to see his own frailties revealed in his prisoners and to hate them for it. Oshima explores similar ideas in his much more controversial In the Realm of the Senses, an explicit sex film about madness and the exchange of identities. His approach here is more conventional, but he brings the same intense sense of place to the story. He's particularly good at using colored light to alter the mood of a shot, and his multinational ensemble could not be better. Bowie, whose abilities as an actor have always been undervalued, is fine in a role that's certainly cast against his androgynous “type.” Sakamoto is his equal in intensity and screen presence.

The various cultural gaps inherent in the story are exacerbated by mumbled dialogue that's sometimes incomprehensible, and an ending that makes an abrupt four-year leap. Those difficulties and the frequent subtitling are enough to keep some viewers from giving the film a chance. Those who are intrigued by a new approach to familiar material, however, should give this one a try. Think of it as a challenge for the adventurous videophile.

Cast: David Bowie (Maj. Jack “Strafer” Celliers), Tom Conti (Col. John Lawrence), Ryuichi Sakamoto (Capt. Yonoi), Takeshi “Beat” Kitano (Sgt. Gengo Hara), Jack Thompson (Group Capt. Hicksley), Takashi Naitoh (Lt. Iwata), Alistair Browning (De Jong), Johnny Okura (Kanemoto), Yuya Uchida (Commandant), Ryunosuke Kaneda (President of the Court), Kan Mikami (Lt. Ito), Yuji Honma (Pfc. Yajima), Diasuke Iijima (Cpl. Ueki); Written by: Nagisa Oshima, Paul Mayersberg; Cinematography by: Toichiro Narushima; Music by: Ryuichi Sakamoto. Producer: Terry Glinwood, Jeremy Thomas, Geoffrey Nethercott, Universal. Japanese, British. Awards: National Board of Review Awards '83: Best Actor (Conti). MPAA Rating: R. Running Time: 124 minutes. Format: VHS, Beta.