MERRY CHRISTMAS, MR. LAWRENCE playing at Japan Society NY tonight at 7:00 PM

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 13th, 7:00 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).

Watch the trailer here.

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

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!

Happy Birthday, Takeshi Kitano

Kitano in Outrage

Takeshi Kitano was born on January 18, 1947 in Tokyo. He began his entertainment career as a comedian. As part of a duo know as Two Beat, or sometimes The Two Beats, he became known as "Beat Takeshi."

Kitano in his role as director on the set of Outrage

He is a film director and actor, as well as a writer of both screenplays and books. As a director he is known in the U.S. for such films as Outrage (2010), The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi (2003), and Sonatine (1993). He also acted in all of these.

Kitano, left, in Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence

He also is well known for his roles in Battle Royale (2000) and Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983), among others.

In Achilles and the Tortoise (2008) which he also wrote and directed

So, Happy Birthday, 'Beat Takeshi', and best wishes for many more.

ACF 1400: Nagisa Oshima's TABOO at Japan Society this evening

  Taboo / Gohatto

Directed by Nagisa Oshima

With Takeshi Kitano, Ryuhei Matsuda, Shinji Takeda,

Tadanobu Asano, and Yoichi Sai

Japan, 1999, 100 minutes

In Japanese with English subtitles

When: Sunday, March 25, 2012 at 7:00 PM

Where: Japan Society

333 East 47th Street, between 1st and 2nd Avenues, NYC

Japan Society's new film series, As Cherry Blossoms Fall: Films & Scenes of Sakura, continues tonight with this screening of Nagisa Oshima's Taboo at 7 PM.

Synopsis: In 1865 Kyoto, Japan’s rigid samurai code is threatened by the emotional whirlwinds of passion and desire. A samurai militia unit that defends the Shogunate enlists 18-year-old Kano, a warrior whose mesmerizing good looks immediately intrigue his fellow students, superiors and even his captain (Beat Takeshi). After a series of mysterious murders provoke further suspicion, disorder erupts

Tickets: $12 general admission, $9 for Japan Society members, seniors and students

Buy Tickets for TABOO Online or call the Japan Society Box Office at (212) 715-1258, Mon. - Fri. 11 am - 6 pm, Weekends 11 am - 5 pm.

The film series As Cherry Blossoms Fall is presented in association with the Japan Foundation and runs through April 14, 2012. Series information here. The film series is part of Sakura — Spring Renews, Beauty Blooms.

ACF 1394: DOLLS kicks off new film series at Japan Society tonight

Dolls / Doruzu

Directed by Takeshi Kitano

With Hidetoshi Nishijima, Kyoko Fukada, Miho Kanno,
Tatsuya Mihashi, and Chieko Matsubara

Japan, 2002, 113 minutes

In Japanese with English subtitles

When: Friday, March 23, 2012 at 7:30 PM

Where: Japan Society

333 East 47th Street, between 1st and 2nd Avenues, NYC

Japan Society's new film series, As Cherry Blossoms Fall: Films & Scenes of Sakura,
begins with tonight's screening of Dolls. This is the 10th, and most lyrical and poetic film by acclaimed Japanese director Takeshi Kitano. Focusing on three couples and the overpowering love that both drives and dooms them, the film is inspired by the beauty of traditional Japanese bunraku puppet theater.

Tickets: $12 general admission, $9 for Japan Society members, seniors and students

Buy Tickets Online or call the Japan Society Box Office at (212) 715-1258, Mon. - Fri. 11 am - 6 pm, Weekends 11 am - 5 pm.

The film series As Cherry Blossoms Fall runs through April 14, 2012. Series information here. The film series is part of Sakura — Spring Renews, Beauty Blooms.

ACF 453: Happy Birthday, Takeshi Kitano!

"Beat" Takeshi Kitano in Achilles and the Tortoise (2008),

one of many films that he also wrote and directed

Writer, director, actor and television personality Takeshi Kitano was born in Tokyo on January 18th, 1947. After filling in for an ill comedian, he and a friend formed "The Two Beats," a comedy duo that became very popular in Japan. From this came his nickname of "Beat Takeshi."

Around 1995 he had a very serious motorcycle accident that nearly killed him.

Among his better known films in the west are: his version of Zatoichi (2003), which he directed and in which he starred as the title character initially made famous by Shintaro Katsu: Kinji Fukasaku's Battle Royale (2000), and Sonatine (1993), another film that he wrote, directed, and starred in. These, and many other of his films are readily available on DVD.

Happy 63rd B-day, "Beat"!