In 1942 British soldier Jack Celliers comes to a japanese prison camp. The camp is run by Yonoi, who has a firm belief in discipline, honour and glory. In his view, the allied prisoners are cowards when they chose to surrender instead of commiting suicide. One of the prisoners, interpreter John Lawrence, tries to explain the japanese way of thinking, but is considered a traitor.
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence was the first English-language project of Japanese director Nagisa Oshima Death by Hanging, In the Realm of the Senses. In tune with his previous filmic essays on racism and brutality, Merry Christmas concentrates on a war of wills between rebellious POW David Bowie and camp commandant Ryuichi Sakomoto. Assuming that his other prisoners' unwillingness to protest their cruel treatment is a sign of weakness, Sakomoto is most impressed by Bowie's enigmatic defiance. While Bowie and Sakomoto seem to be operating on a high spiritual and intellectual plane, bilingual prisoner Tom Conti the "Mr. Lawrence" of the title engages in a more standard adversarial relationship with sadistic sergeant Takeshi Kitano.
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David Bowie | Celliers |
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Tom Conti | Lawrence |
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Ryuichi Sakamoto | Yonoi |
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Takeshi Kitano | Hara |
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Jack Thompson | Hicksley |
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Johnny Okura | Kanemoto |
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Alistair Browning | De Jong |
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James Malcolm | Celliers' Brother |
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Chris Broun | Celliers 12 Years |
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Yuya Uchida | Commandant of Military Prison |
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Ryunosuke Kaneda | President of the Court |
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Takashi Naitô | Lieutenant Iwata |
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Tamio Ishikura | Prosecutor |
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Rokko Toura | Interpreter |
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Kan Mikami | Lieutenant Ito |
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Yuji Honma | PFC Yajima |
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Daisuke Iijima | Corporal Ueki |
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Hideo Murota | New Commandant of Camp |
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Barry Dorking | Chief Doctor |
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Geoff Clendon | Australian Doctor |
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Grant Bridger | P.O.W. Officer |
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Richard Adams | P.O.W. |
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Geoff Allen | P.O.W. |
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Michael Baxter-Lax | P.O.W. |
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Mark Berg | P.O.W. |
| Director | Nagisa Oshima |
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| Writer | Nagisa Oshima, Paul Mayersberg, Laurens Van der Post | |
| Producer | Terry Glinwood, Masato Hara, Joyce Herlihy, Geoffrey Nethercott, Eiko Oshima, Larry Parr, Jeremy Thomas | |
| Musician | Ryuichi Sakamoto | |
| Photography | Toichiro Narushima | |
| Edition | Criterion Blu-Ray Edition |
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| Packaging | Keep Case |
| Nr Discs | 1 |
| Screen Ratios | Widescreen (1.78:1) |
| Audio Tracks | DTS-HD Master Audio Stereo [English] |
| Subtitles | English |
| Regions | Region A |