MERRY CHRISTMAS, MR. LAWRENCE screening at Japan Society NY on January 13, 2017

Japan Society NY

Presents

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence © 1983 Shochiku Co., Ltd.

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence / Senjo no Meri Kurisumasu

Directed by Nagisa Oshima

With David Bowie, Tom Conti, Ryuichi Sakamoto,
Takeshi Kitano, and Jack Thompson

Japan, 1983, 123 minutes, 35mm, color

In English and Japanese with English subtitles

When: Friday, January 13, 7 PM

Where: Japan Society

333 East 47th Street, NYC

Map

Tickets

This international co-production from director Nagisa Oshima features a magnetic David Bowie in one of his greatest screen roles as a rebellious British officer imprisoned in a Japanese POW camp during World War II who draws the intense fascination of the camp's conflicted commandant, played by composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. Divided by language and incongruous understandings of duty and honor, the fraught relationship between prisoners and captors slowly builds towards tragedy. Also featuring a breakout performance by Takeshi Kitano in his first dramatic role, Oshima's film is an entrancing, brutal examination of the absurdities of war punctuated by moments of tenderness and poetry.

Screening in memory of David Bowie (January 8, 1947-January 10, 2016) and Nagisa Oshima (March 31, 1932-January 15, 2013).

Part of Monthly Classics
Year-round screenings of beloved classics, hidden gems and recent discoveries of Japanese cinema. Only $5 for Japan society members!