Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence cover art

Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence Details

1982 Certificate 15
  • Rated:
  • 70
  • from 1046 members

A wartime drama which finds a group of POWs in a Japanese POW camp. When Major Celliers arrives at the camp the Japanese camp commander believes him to be an evil spirit. A battle of wills begins between the two men. Read more

Starring David Bowie, Tom Conti, Ryuichi Sakamato
Director Nagisa Oshima
Genres Drama

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Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence

A wartime drama which finds a group of POWs in a Japanese POW camp. When Major Celliers arrives at the camp the Japanese camp commander believes him to be an evil spirit. A battle of wills begins between the two men.

Starring David Bowie, Tom Conti, Ryuichi Sakamato
Director Nagisa Oshima
Studio SECOND SIGHT FILMS LTD.
Run time DVD: 2 hrs 2 mins
Certificate Certificate 15
Genres Drama
Language DVD: English
Released DVD: 24 Jan 2005
Production year: 1982
Format DVD
  • Critics' reviews (4) of Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence

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  • 4 stars out of 5

    Nagisa Oshima, the most controversial director of the Japanese New Wave, made his English-language debut with this affecting story set in a PoW camp during the Second World War. Tom Conti stars as a bilingual prisoner who is forced to act as intermediary between commandant Ryuichi Sakamoto and his sadistic number two Takeshi “Beat” Kitano, and the blustering British CO Jack Thompson. Treading carefully in matters of duty and culpability, Oshima creates credible and complex characters, who are played with distinction by his international cast. If you can excuse the sight of the then 35-year-old David Bowie in a school uniform, this will prove most rewarding.

    • Radio Times
  • 1 stars out of 4

    Uncomfortably titled and unavoidably downbeat character drama with some unpleasant moments; despite good work all round it seems to head straight for every cliché perpetuated by The Bridge on the River Kwai.

    • Halliwell's Film Guide
  • Most helpful member's review of Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence

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  • 6 out of 6 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    Brutal and beautiful

    Very few movies depict the vast chasm between two cultures with respect, but this is one of the few that pulls it off. Set near the end of WW2, this movie focuses on the clash between the Japanese and the English -- not on a bloody battlefield but in the relative quiet of a POW camp as a Japanese captain (Ryuichi Sakamoto) and a British soldier (David Bowie) wage a battle of wills against each other.

      • Annie D from London, England
  • Most recent members' review of Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence

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  • 6 out of 6 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    Brutal and beautiful

    Very few movies depict the vast chasm between two cultures with respect, but this is one of the few that pulls it off. Set near the end of WW2, this movie focuses on the clash between the Japanese and the English -- not on a bloody battlefield but in the relative quiet of a POW camp as a Japanese captain (Ryuichi Sakamoto) and a British soldier (David Bowie) wage a battle of wills against each other.

      • Annie D from London, England
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Rating breakdown

1,046 Member ratings
  • 100
134
  • 90
96
  • 80
226
  • 70
191
  • 60
194
  • 50
84
  • 40
57
  • 30
30
  • 20
21
  • 10
13

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    • A wartime drama which finds a group of POWs in a Japanese POW camp. When Major Celliers arrives at the camp the Japanese camp commander believes him to be an evil spirit. A battle of wills begins ...