Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence was the first English-language project of Japanese director Nagisa Oshima (Death by Hanging, In the Realm of the Senses). In tune with his previous filmic essays on racism and brutality, Merry Christmas concentrates on a war of wills between rebellious POW David Bowie and camp commandant Ryuichi Sakomoto. Assuming that his other prisoners' unwillingness to protest their cruel treatment is a sign of weakness, Sakomoto is most impressed by Bowie's enigmatic defiance. While Bowie and Sakomoto seem to be operating on a high spiritual and intellectual plane, bilingual prisoner Tom Conti (the Mr. Lawrence of the title) engages in a more standard adversarial relationship with sadistic sergeant Takeshi Kitano.~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

GENRE: Drama
MPAA RATING: R
RUN TIME: 2h 2m
RELEASE DATE: December 31, 1969
STARRING: David Bowie, Yûji Honma, Daisuke Iijima, Hideo Murota, Barry Dorking
DIRECTOR(S): Nagisa Oshima
PRODUCER(S): Jeremy Thomas
WRITER(S): Nagisa Oshima, Paul Mayersberg
STUDIO: