To celebrate the release of Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence – available on limited edition Blu-ray 15th June from Arrow Academy – we have a copy up for grabs!
David Bowie stars in Nagisa Oshima’s 1983 Palme d’Or-nominated portrait of resilience, pride, friendship and obsession among four very different men confined in the stifling jungle heat of a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in Java during World War II.
Produced by Jeremy Thomas, it was the first English-language film by Oshima, a leading light of Japanese New Wave cinema, and provided breakthrough big-screen roles for comedian Takeshi Kitano and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, who also composed the film’s hauntingly memorable BAFTA-winning score. This powerful wartime drama was adapted from Laurens van der Post’s autobiographical novel ‘The Seed and the Sower’ (1963) by screenwriter Paul Mayersberg (The Man Who Fell To Earth).
Order today: https://arrowfilms.com/product-detail/merry-christmas-mr-lawrence-blu-ray/FCD2013
To be in with a chance of winning,...
David Bowie stars in Nagisa Oshima’s 1983 Palme d’Or-nominated portrait of resilience, pride, friendship and obsession among four very different men confined in the stifling jungle heat of a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in Java during World War II.
Produced by Jeremy Thomas, it was the first English-language film by Oshima, a leading light of Japanese New Wave cinema, and provided breakthrough big-screen roles for comedian Takeshi Kitano and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, who also composed the film’s hauntingly memorable BAFTA-winning score. This powerful wartime drama was adapted from Laurens van der Post’s autobiographical novel ‘The Seed and the Sower’ (1963) by screenwriter Paul Mayersberg (The Man Who Fell To Earth).
Order today: https://arrowfilms.com/product-detail/merry-christmas-mr-lawrence-blu-ray/FCD2013
To be in with a chance of winning,...
- 6/16/2020
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
To celebrate the release of Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence – available on limited edition Blu-ray 15th June from Arrow Academy – we have a copy up for grabs!
David Bowie stars in Nagisa Oshima’s 1983 Palme d’Or-nominated portrait of resilience, pride, friendship and obsession among four very different men confined in the stifling jungle heat of a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in Java during World War II.
Produced by Jeremy Thomas, it was the first English-language film by Oshima, a leading light of Japanese New Wave cinema, and provided breakthrough big-screen roles for comedian Takeshi Kitano and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, who also composed the film’s hauntingly memorable BAFTA-winning score. This powerful wartime drama was adapted from Laurens van der Post’s autobiographical novel ‘The Seed and the Sower’ (1963) by screenwriter Paul Mayersberg (The Man Who Fell To Earth).
Order today: https://arrowfilms.com/product-detail/merry-christmas-mr-lawrence-blu-ray/FCD2013
Please note: This competition is...
David Bowie stars in Nagisa Oshima’s 1983 Palme d’Or-nominated portrait of resilience, pride, friendship and obsession among four very different men confined in the stifling jungle heat of a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in Java during World War II.
Produced by Jeremy Thomas, it was the first English-language film by Oshima, a leading light of Japanese New Wave cinema, and provided breakthrough big-screen roles for comedian Takeshi Kitano and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, who also composed the film’s hauntingly memorable BAFTA-winning score. This powerful wartime drama was adapted from Laurens van der Post’s autobiographical novel ‘The Seed and the Sower’ (1963) by screenwriter Paul Mayersberg (The Man Who Fell To Earth).
Order today: https://arrowfilms.com/product-detail/merry-christmas-mr-lawrence-blu-ray/FCD2013
Please note: This competition is...
- 6/10/2020
- by Competitions
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Five years after he had won Best Director at the 1978 Cannes Film Festival for “Empire of Passion” Japanese auteur Nagisa Oshima would return to the cinema with “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence”, a film based on the works “The Seed and the Sower” and “The Night of the New Moon” by Sir Laurens van der Post. In his books, he reflects on his time as a prisoner of war after he had been captured by Japanese forces in 1942, and in Oshima’s, film the character played by Tom Conti bears much resemblance to the author, especially because of his knowledge of the Japanese language and culture. Apart from Conti, Oshima managed to assemble quite an interesting cast for this war drama consisting of musicians David Bowie and Ryuichi Sakamoto along with Takeshi Kitano as Sergeant Hara.
In 1942, Captain Yonoi (Sakamoto) is the commander of a camp of Japanese prisoners of war,...
In 1942, Captain Yonoi (Sakamoto) is the commander of a camp of Japanese prisoners of war,...
- 5/5/2020
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
As part of their release slates for the months June and July 2020 Arrow Academy will release the classic Nagisa Oshima “Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence” starring David Bowie and Hideo Sekigawa’s powerful documentary “Hiroshima”
Synopsis for “Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence”
David Bowie stars in Nagisa Oshima’s 1983 Palme d’Or-nominated portrait of resilience, pride, friendship and obsession among four very different men confined in the stifling jungle heat of a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in Java during World War II.
In 1942, British officer Major Jack Celliers (Bowie) is captured by Japanese soldiers, and after a brutal trial sent, physically debilitated but indomitable in mind, to a Pow camp overseen by the zealous Captain Yonoi (Ryuichi Sakamoto). Celliers’ stubbornness sees him locked in a battle of wills with the camp’s new commandant, a man obsessed with discipline and the glory of Imperial Japan who becomes unnaturally preoccupied with the young Major,...
Synopsis for “Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence”
David Bowie stars in Nagisa Oshima’s 1983 Palme d’Or-nominated portrait of resilience, pride, friendship and obsession among four very different men confined in the stifling jungle heat of a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in Java during World War II.
In 1942, British officer Major Jack Celliers (Bowie) is captured by Japanese soldiers, and after a brutal trial sent, physically debilitated but indomitable in mind, to a Pow camp overseen by the zealous Captain Yonoi (Ryuichi Sakamoto). Celliers’ stubbornness sees him locked in a battle of wills with the camp’s new commandant, a man obsessed with discipline and the glory of Imperial Japan who becomes unnaturally preoccupied with the young Major,...
- 4/18/2020
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
From “Labyrinth” to “The Prestige,” David Bowie’s onscreen roles added another dimension to a legendary career.
“The Man Who Fell to Earth”
Bowie’s first leading role was in 1976’s “The Man Who Fell to Earth” as an alien who comes to Earth to bring water back to his home planet. Bowie later admitted he was abusing cocaine while filming the movie.
“The Hunger”
Starring alongside Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon, Bowie played a vampire in the 1983 cult classic “The Hunger.”
“Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence”
An adaptation of the Laurens van der Post novel “The Seed and the Sower,” 1983’s “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence” starred Bowie as a Pow held in a Japanese internment camp during WWII.
“Labyrinth” (1986)
Bowie’s most iconic on-screen role was as the big-haired Goblin King Jareth in Jim Henson’s “Labyrinth” in 1986. In addition to starring in the film alongside Jennifer Connelly, Bowie also composed all of the music.
“The Man Who Fell to Earth”
Bowie’s first leading role was in 1976’s “The Man Who Fell to Earth” as an alien who comes to Earth to bring water back to his home planet. Bowie later admitted he was abusing cocaine while filming the movie.
“The Hunger”
Starring alongside Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon, Bowie played a vampire in the 1983 cult classic “The Hunger.”
“Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence”
An adaptation of the Laurens van der Post novel “The Seed and the Sower,” 1983’s “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence” starred Bowie as a Pow held in a Japanese internment camp during WWII.
“Labyrinth” (1986)
Bowie’s most iconic on-screen role was as the big-haired Goblin King Jareth in Jim Henson’s “Labyrinth” in 1986. In addition to starring in the film alongside Jennifer Connelly, Bowie also composed all of the music.
- 1/8/2019
- by Reid Nakamura
- The Wrap
From “Labyrinth” to “The Prestige,” David Bowie’s onscreen roles added another dimension to a legendary career. “The Man Who Fell to Earth” Bowie’s first leading role was in 1976’s “The Man Who Fell to Earth” as an alien who comes to Earth to bring water back to his home planet. Bowie later admitted he was abusing cocaine while filming the movie. “The Hunger” Starring alongside Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon, Bowie played a vampire in the 1983 cult classic “The Hunger.” “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence” An adaptation of the Laurens van der Post novel “The Seed and the Sower,...
- 1/8/2018
- by Reid Nakamura
- The Wrap
Written and directed by Nagisa Ôshima, the UK Blu-Ray Premiere of Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence is available in a Double Play disc set on 17th October. We have three copies of the Blu-ray to give away.
Based on The Seed and The Sower by Laurens Van Der Post, in 1942 British soldier Jack Celliers (David Bowie) comes to a Japanese prison camp. The camp is run by Yonoi (Ryûichi Sakamoto), who has a firm belief in discipline, honour and glory. In Yonoi’s view, the allied prisoners are all cowards after choosing to surrender in the war instead of committing suicide. When one of the prisoners, interpreter John Lawrence (Tom Conti), tries to explain the Japanese way of thinking, he is considered a traitor.
Blu-Ray Extras:
- The Oshima Gang – Making of Featurette
- An Interview with Jeremy Thomas
- An Interview Ryûichi Sakamoto
-Theatrical Trailer
All you need to...
Based on The Seed and The Sower by Laurens Van Der Post, in 1942 British soldier Jack Celliers (David Bowie) comes to a Japanese prison camp. The camp is run by Yonoi (Ryûichi Sakamoto), who has a firm belief in discipline, honour and glory. In Yonoi’s view, the allied prisoners are all cowards after choosing to surrender in the war instead of committing suicide. When one of the prisoners, interpreter John Lawrence (Tom Conti), tries to explain the Japanese way of thinking, he is considered a traitor.
Blu-Ray Extras:
- The Oshima Gang – Making of Featurette
- An Interview with Jeremy Thomas
- An Interview Ryûichi Sakamoto
-Theatrical Trailer
All you need to...
- 10/12/2011
- by Matt Holmes
- Obsessed with Film
This week’s DVD and Blu-ray releases are truly some bankruptcy inducing titles. With two truly epic Blu-ray’s from Criterion to talk about, as well as a slew of new releases and catalog titles from various distributors, you’ll have to choose wisely, or perhaps just take out a loan on your house to pay for them all.
I know, I know. Tuesday was days ago, and we’re almost upon Tuesday again, where we’ll see a whole list of new titles. As those who follow me on Twitter know, I had a rather large event happen on Wednesday, which threw a wrench into my blogging plans. Nevertheless, I wanted to get these titles up, as I think they are incredibly important, and should be considered if you’re looking to drop some cash on DVDs and Blu-rays.
Before I get into this week’s new releases, I...
I know, I know. Tuesday was days ago, and we’re almost upon Tuesday again, where we’ll see a whole list of new titles. As those who follow me on Twitter know, I had a rather large event happen on Wednesday, which threw a wrench into my blogging plans. Nevertheless, I wanted to get these titles up, as I think they are incredibly important, and should be considered if you’re looking to drop some cash on DVDs and Blu-rays.
Before I get into this week’s new releases, I...
- 10/4/2010
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
Nagisa Oshima's Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983), which is based on an autobiographical novel by the South African adventurer-soldier Laurens van der Post, is a homo-erotic culture clash set in a World War 2 internment camp. This film's international rock-star casting and multi-lingual dialog reflects an obvious attempt by Oshima and his producer Jeremy Thomas to reach a broader international audience. This experiment in commerciality isn't entirely successful. Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence is good, but it falls short of the high bar set by the Oshima's prior works.
The film is set in Java in 1942. Captain Yonoi (Ryuichi Sakamoto) is a colonel in the Japanese army who, along with brutal Sergeant Gengo Hara (a young pre-accident Takeshi Kitano), lords over a P.O.W. camp. Life in the camp, which is mostly filed with British soldiers, is a daily struggle against death, torture, starvation, and the sexual allure of sweaty men packed together in dismal conditions.
The film is set in Java in 1942. Captain Yonoi (Ryuichi Sakamoto) is a colonel in the Japanese army who, along with brutal Sergeant Gengo Hara (a young pre-accident Takeshi Kitano), lords over a P.O.W. camp. Life in the camp, which is mostly filed with British soldiers, is a daily struggle against death, torture, starvation, and the sexual allure of sweaty men packed together in dismal conditions.
- 10/3/2010
- Screen Anarchy
It’s your gods. It’s your bloody, awful, stinking gods. They made you what you are. May they rot away in the filthy hell they came from!
A film dealing with cultural and identity conflicts between POWs in a Japanese internment camp during World War II, when done well, would be a worthy addition to any director’s career. But with Nagisa Oshima’s career already being an amazing array of risks (and always proud to take them), his 1983 film Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence is just one more notch on the belt of a varied film maker.
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, an adaptation of Laurens van der Post’s two books dealing with his experiences in World War II as a prisoner of war (The Seed and the Flower and The Night of the Moon) tells the story of the relationships between four men in a Japanese prisoner of war camp.
A film dealing with cultural and identity conflicts between POWs in a Japanese internment camp during World War II, when done well, would be a worthy addition to any director’s career. But with Nagisa Oshima’s career already being an amazing array of risks (and always proud to take them), his 1983 film Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence is just one more notch on the belt of a varied film maker.
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, an adaptation of Laurens van der Post’s two books dealing with his experiences in World War II as a prisoner of war (The Seed and the Flower and The Night of the Moon) tells the story of the relationships between four men in a Japanese prisoner of war camp.
- 10/1/2010
- by James McCormick
- CriterionCast
Reviewer: Jeffrey M. Anderson
Rating (out of 5): ***
The great Japanese director Nagisa Oshima is known for shaking up the quiet, stately Japanese cinema of the 1960s with his stories of youth, social realism, social critique, and even a bit of surrealism. His most notable titles from this period are arguably Boy (1969) and The Ceremony (1971), though none of his early films is well known in the West. Instead, Oshima is best known here for his pair of 1970s erotic arthouse hits, In the Realm of the Senses (1976) and Empire of Passion (1978). Though these movies put Oshima on the world map, many early fans consider them a diversion from Oshima's true talent.
This leads us to Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983), Oshima's follow-up to Empire of Passion, newly released via Criterion Collection. With the world's attention, he turned to this international production, based on an autobiographical novel by Afrikaner Laurens van der Post,...
Rating (out of 5): ***
The great Japanese director Nagisa Oshima is known for shaking up the quiet, stately Japanese cinema of the 1960s with his stories of youth, social realism, social critique, and even a bit of surrealism. His most notable titles from this period are arguably Boy (1969) and The Ceremony (1971), though none of his early films is well known in the West. Instead, Oshima is best known here for his pair of 1970s erotic arthouse hits, In the Realm of the Senses (1976) and Empire of Passion (1978). Though these movies put Oshima on the world map, many early fans consider them a diversion from Oshima's true talent.
This leads us to Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983), Oshima's follow-up to Empire of Passion, newly released via Criterion Collection. With the world's attention, he turned to this international production, based on an autobiographical novel by Afrikaner Laurens van der Post,...
- 9/29/2010
- by underdog
- GreenCine
Here we are, another 15th of the month, another group of amazing releases from the Criterion Collection announced on schedule. Being so obsessively attached to rumors and gossip on Twitter and forums and the like, many of these titles have been hinted at in one form or another.
Way back in March, we got a somewhat obvious clue in the monthly Criterion Collection e-mail newsletter, in the form of a thin, red lion, and after some back and forth as to which movie it was referring to, many came to the conclusion it was in fact Terrance Malick’s The Thin Red Line. Criterion’s recent Blu-ray release of Malick’s Days of Heaven was an incredible production, with a transfer that cannot be beaten. The Thin Red Line was also teased at in a twitter picture post that Criterion sent out back in March, giving further proof to the...
Way back in March, we got a somewhat obvious clue in the monthly Criterion Collection e-mail newsletter, in the form of a thin, red lion, and after some back and forth as to which movie it was referring to, many came to the conclusion it was in fact Terrance Malick’s The Thin Red Line. Criterion’s recent Blu-ray release of Malick’s Days of Heaven was an incredible production, with a transfer that cannot be beaten. The Thin Red Line was also teased at in a twitter picture post that Criterion sent out back in March, giving further proof to the...
- 6/16/2010
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
It's the 50th anniversary of Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless and along with Rialto Pictures's restoration that was recently released in four theaters and will expand throughout the year, Criterion will be releasing the film on Blu-ray on September 14 and the rest of the month holds a lot in store as well. The features will mirror those on the 2007 two-disc DVD edition, but for a complete list click here.
As has been known, it is now confirmed Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line will be released on a two-disc DVD and single-disc Blu-ray on September 28. I saw Malick's adaptation of James Jones's 1962 novel about the World War II battle for Guadalcanal for the first time last November and loved it and on Blu-ray, as with any Malick film, this will look amazing. Among the features you will get an audio commentary with director of photography John Toll, production designer...
As has been known, it is now confirmed Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line will be released on a two-disc DVD and single-disc Blu-ray on September 28. I saw Malick's adaptation of James Jones's 1962 novel about the World War II battle for Guadalcanal for the first time last November and loved it and on Blu-ray, as with any Malick film, this will look amazing. Among the features you will get an audio commentary with director of photography John Toll, production designer...
- 6/15/2010
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
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