Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
1983 · Movie · R · 124 min · ★ 7.3 · 68% critics
In 1942 on Java, Allied prisoners endure life in a Japanese POW camp ruled by strict discipline and sudden brutality. A new arrival unsettles the camp’s fragile order, forcing captors and captives into a tense clash of values, pride, and survival, while a bilingual officer tries to bridge two cultures that barely understand each other.
Based on The Night of the New Moon
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Details
- Original title
- 戦場のメリークリスマス
- Years
- 1983
- Release date
- 1983-05-28
- Language
- Japanese
- Rated
- R
- Runtime
- 124 min
- Critic score
- 68/100
- TMDB rating
- 7.3/10 (523 votes)
About
You’ll likely enjoy this if you want a thoughtful, character-driven WWII POW drama about culture clash and uneasy bonds under pressure; Not for you if you want a fast, action-heavy war movie like Black Rain or an easy watch.
Pros: emotionally powerful performances; thoughtful cultural conflict; haunting music | Cons: slow, meandering middle; confusing flashbacks; bleak, brutal moments
Themes
- based on novel or book
- war crimes
- world war ii
- prisoner of war
- pacific war
- court martial
- prison camp
- meditative
- 1940s
- java, indonesia
- depressing
- complicated
- +2 more
Cast & crew
David Bowie
as Celliers
Tom Conti
as Lawrence
Ryuichi Sakamoto
as Yonoi
Takeshi Kitano
as Hara
Jack Thompson
as Hicksley
Johnny Ohkura
as Kanemoto
Alistair Browning
as De Jong
- JM
James Malcolm
as Celliers' Brother
- CB
Chris Broun
as Celliers (12 Years)
Yuya Uchida
as Commandant of Military Prison
Directed by Nagisa Ōshima