Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983) on Netflix
In 1942, Captain Yonoi commands a Japanese prison camp on Java. Major Jack Celliers arrives as a prisoner. Lieutenant-Colonel John Lawrence speaks Japanese and acts as liaison to the inmates.
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb7.2/1022,749 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes86%
Trailer
Plot summary
In 1942, Captain Yonoi commands a camp for prisoners of war at Lebak Sembada, in Java under Japanese occupation, and he follows the bushido code strictly. Lieutenant-Colonel John Lawrence, an inmate fluent in Japanese, is his link to the prisoners, while Group Captain Hicksley speaks for the men and resists the search for weapons experts among them. Lawrence has also befriended Sergeant Gengo Hara. When Major Jack Celliers is brought before a military trial after his capture, Yonoi is drawn to his resilience and sends him to the infirmary for treatment.
Cast
- James Malcolmas Celliers' Brother
- Chris Brounas Celliers aged 12
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Nagisa Ōshima shot Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence without rushes and shipped it off Rarotonga with no safety prints, Bowie said, wrapped in brown paper and posted to Japan; Ōshima's editor cut a rough print within four days of his return.
- Ōshima had a two- to three-acre prisoner-of-war camp built on the remote Polynesian island of Rarotonga, but most of it was never filmed; Bowie said the director shot only little bits at the corners.
- Ōshima cast Ryuichi Sakamoto after seeing his photographs in a photo book, Fifty Representative Figures of Today, without ever meeting him; the film was Sakamoto's first score and first acting role, and Takeshi Kitano's film-acting debut.
- David Bowie was cast as Major Jack Celliers after director Nagisa Ōshima saw him in a Broadway production of The Elephant Man; Ōshima felt Bowie had "an inner spirit that is indestructible".
- On set, David Bowie bonded with James Malcolm, the young actor playing his on-screen brother, and for one pivotal scene Malcolm had to sing for Bowie; the next year Bowie brought him on stage at Western Springs in Auckland on the Serious Moonlight Tour, where they released a dove as a sign of peace.
- The film is based on the experiences of Sir Laurens van der Post, who was a prisoner of war in Japanese-occupied Java, as described in his books The Seed and the Sower and The Night of the New Moon; Tom Conti plays him as Lieutenant-Colonel John Lawrence.
