Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence

Dir: Nagisa Oshima

1983

*****

Nagisa Oshima's World War II Prison of War drama Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence is a true masterpiece and one of the greatest war films of all time. Based on the experiences of Sir Laurens van der Post as a POW, as recorded in his works The Seed and the Sower and The Night of the New Moon, it follows the actions of four men in a Japanese concentration camp. David Bowie (in his best ever performance in my opinion) plays Kiwi Major Jack Celliers who befriends fellow prisoner Lieutenant Colonel John Lawrence, played by the brilliant John Conti. They are overseen by a young Captain Yonoi (Ryuichi Sakamoto) and the brutal Sergeant Hara (the outstanding Takeshi 'Beat' Kitano in one of his first roles). Each man has their own inner conflict, each man has a different approach to the war and their personal situation and how they interact with each other. I struggle to think of another film that shows the contrasting mind-set of each side of the war so effectively and the roles that people play in unimaginable situations. The performances from the four leading men are faultless and all four performances are so often criminally overlooked. The chemistry between each actor is electric which makes for quite an emotional viewing experience. The story is the perfect War fable in that it is very much an anti-war message. It's tragic that people sometimes only really find out what makes them who they are and what makes us human during times of conflict and this is perfectly explored by Nagisa Oshima. Most great films have that one stand out scene that you'll never forget, but nearly every scene in Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence is a stand out scene. Ryuichi Sakamoto performance is stunning but he didn't only star, he also wrote the film's score. The Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence theme song is regarded as one of the best ever recorded. Every aspect of the film is faultless, a true modern classic.