Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
Short description
On Java in 1942, a Japanese military prison camp holds Allied soldiers who have surrendered rather than die, a choice their captors view with contempt. A new arrival, British officer Jack Celliers, refuses to submit to the camp's regime. The camp commander, Captain Yonoi, adheres strictly to a code of discipline and honor, and he becomes fixated on Celliers, whose composure he cannot break. Between them stands Colonel John Lawrence, a prisoner fluent in Japanese and deeply familiar with the culture, who tries to bridge the two sides while knowing he is distrusted by both. Sergeant Hara, a brutal and uncomplicated guard, watches the confrontation unfold. What develops is a collision of wills shaped by culture, memory and the strain of captivity.
Nagisa Ōshima directed, working from a screenplay he wrote with Paul Mayersberg, and Jeremy Thomas produced. The film came after Oshima's Empire of Passion and In the Realm of the Senses, and it was followed by Taboo. David Bowie plays Celliers, Tom Conti plays Lawrence, and Ryuichi Sakamoto, who also composed the music, plays Yonoi, with Takeshi Kitano as Hara and Jack Thompson and Johnny Ohkura in supporting roles.
Released in 1983, the film took in roughly 2 million dollars worldwide, a modest return. On TMDB it holds a rating of 7.3 out of 10 from 546 votes, indicating a fairly favorable response from viewers.
What's left behind the scenes
- Actor Tom Conti did not know Japanese, so he had to memorize all his lines by ear.
- Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence is Takeshi Kitano's first English-language film.
- The film is an adaptation of the autobiographical novels The Seed and the Sower (1963) and The Night of the New Moon (1970).
- Lee Tamahori served as the assistant director on the film.
- According to David Bowie, Nagisa Oshima worked in detail with the Japanese actors on set. But when it came to the British actors, they were told to "do something that your people do."
- David Bowie landed the role of Major Jack Sellers after Nagisa Ōshima saw him in the Broadway show 'The Elephant Man'.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
