How this film has become so forgotten is one of the great mysteries of cinema history. It is the best film of 1983 (although I suppose you can argue that 1983 wasn't a great year for films).
Tom Conti himself is an actor people seem to have forgotten about, but he does superb work, and his Col Lawrence is one of his best performances. Bowie, Sakamoto, Thompson...this is simply one well-acted movie. And one of the things I truly appreciate about it is its compassion for every character, Japanese and British/Australian. For me, the great tragedy it explores is how lack of understanding between countries and people can create so much death and destruction. Boy, you can't get any more relevant than that.
Couple that with the fact that this has one of the best film scores in film history, and you've got a cinematic experience not to be missed.
The word definitely needs to get out about this movie. It's so frustrating to me to know that what I'm saying here will likely only be read by people who already know about this film. Oh, well.
And yes, I did cry at the end of this movie. "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence!"
Tom Conti himself is an actor people seem to have forgotten about, but he does superb work, and his Col Lawrence is one of his best performances. Bowie, Sakamoto, Thompson...this is simply one well-acted movie. And one of the things I truly appreciate about it is its compassion for every character, Japanese and British/Australian. For me, the great tragedy it explores is how lack of understanding between countries and people can create so much death and destruction. Boy, you can't get any more relevant than that.
Couple that with the fact that this has one of the best film scores in film history, and you've got a cinematic experience not to be missed.
The word definitely needs to get out about this movie. It's so frustrating to me to know that what I'm saying here will likely only be read by people who already know about this film. Oh, well.
And yes, I did cry at the end of this movie. "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence!"