Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence is, as the title would suggest, about as far from your typical old-fashioned prisoner-of-war movie as it can get. This film is about Allied officers in a Japanese prison but instead of being about escape attempts, as so many films in this genre are, it's instead a treatise on the human condition that explores the nature of warfare and the human spirit in its fight for justice and honour. The film I would most liken it to is HELL IN THE PACIFIC.
Essentially this is a film about four men whose lives intertwine as the sometimes shocking events in the camp play out. Tom Conti is the straight man through whom we experience the film; he's good, but he has his thunder stolen by the others. Ryuichi Sakamoto has the toughest role as the camp commander driven by old-fashioned ideals and conflicted by personal desire; he also contributed the film's unusual, effective score. David Bowie is the headlining character and makes his role charming with seeming effortlessness. Best of the bunch is the great Japanese Yakuza actor 'Beat' Takeshi, playing an unusual and ambiguous character; he gets the final scene to himself, which just so happens to be the film's most moving moment.
Essentially this is a film about four men whose lives intertwine as the sometimes shocking events in the camp play out. Tom Conti is the straight man through whom we experience the film; he's good, but he has his thunder stolen by the others. Ryuichi Sakamoto has the toughest role as the camp commander driven by old-fashioned ideals and conflicted by personal desire; he also contributed the film's unusual, effective score. David Bowie is the headlining character and makes his role charming with seeming effortlessness. Best of the bunch is the great Japanese Yakuza actor 'Beat' Takeshi, playing an unusual and ambiguous character; he gets the final scene to himself, which just so happens to be the film's most moving moment.