This film is currently unavailable
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
An unflinching study of brutality and resistance, fear and desire in a Japanese WWII POW camp, directed with verve by Oshima and starring David Bowie, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Tom Conti.
Director: Nagisa Oshima
Overview
Bowie and Sakamoto (another musician-turned-actor) play strangely bonded antagonists in this study of brutalisation and repressed desire in a Japanese POW camp. Bowie’s dyed blonde hair crowns a visage shaded by rockstar excess and sexual ambiguity as Major Celliers, a man haunted by his past who’ll risk everything to defy his captor, Captain Yonoi. Electrifying scenes between the two leads, under Oshima’s spare direction, are boldly underlined by Sakamoto’s powerful score.
Related
Eastern Condors Eastern Condors
Crime 1987 98 mins Director: Sammo Hung Kam-bo
Sammo Hung directs and stars in this high-kicking tribute to The Dirty Dozen, which sees ten convicts offered amnesty if the undertake a deadly mission behind enemy lines in Vietnam to destroy a top-secret munitions dump
The Last Metro The Last Metro
Romance 1979 132 mins Director: François Truffaut
Catherine Deneuve shines as the director and lead actor of a Parisian theatre struggling to survive under the Nazi occupation in Truffaut's wartime drama.
JSA: Joint Security Area JSA: Joint Security Area
Thriller 2001 109 mins Director: Park Chan-wook
Gunfire breaks out in the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea in this gripping thriller from Park Chan-wook.
Germany, Year Zero Germany, Year Zero
War 1948 73 mins Director: Roberto Rossellini
The concluding part of Roberto Rossellini’s celebrated War Trilogy, set amid the war-torn ruins of Berlin.
Rome, Open City Rome, Open City
Drama 1945 103 mins Director: Roberto Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini’s landmark of Italian neorealism often cited as one of the greatest films ever made.
Paisà Paisà
War 1946 126 mins Director: Roberto Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini’s ambitious and enormously moving follow-up to his breakthrough Rome, Open City.
Metropolis Metropolis
Science Fiction 1927 150 mins Silent Director: Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang’s expressionist, dystopian vision is one of the first science fiction feature films, and is arguably the most influential.
Radio On Radio On
Road movie 1979 100 mins Director: Chris Petit
Chris Petit's cult classic is one of the most striking feature debuts in British cinema – a haunting blend of edgy mystery story and existential road movie.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Horror 1919 77 mins Silent Director: Robert Wiene
One of the most iconic masterpieces in cinema history, Robert Wiene’s expressionist nightmare shook filmgoers worldwide and changed the direction of the art form.
Querelle Querelle
Drama 1982 109 mins Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Jeanne Moreau plays a jaded brothel madam caught up in the violent sexual awakening of Brad Davis' naïve young sailor in Fassbinder's fever dream of subversive eroticism.
Just a Gigolo Just a Gigolo
War 1978 106 mins Director: David Hemmings
David Bowie stars as the soldier-turned-drifter-turned-dancer for rent, in David Hemmings' Berlin melodrama set at the end of the Great War.
Christiane F. Christiane F.
Drama 1981 131 mins Director: Uli Edel
David Bowie’s image and music gives brooding energy to this tale of a junkie sex-worker in 70s Berlin.
Christiane F. Christiane F.
Drama 1981 131 mins Director: Uli Edel
David Bowie’s image and music gives brooding energy to this tale of a junkie sex-worker in 70s Berlin.
Full Circle: The Haunting of Julia Full Circle: The Haunting of Julia
Horror 1978 97 mins Director: Richard Loncraine
Mia Farrow plays a bereaved mother haunted by the spirit of a child in this supernatural chiller.
Of Time and the City Of Time and the City
Documentary 2008 74 mins Director: Terence Davies
Brilliantly mixing archive film and music, Liverpool-born director Terence Davies reflects with wit and wisdom on a times of change, for good or ill
20,000 Species of Bees 20,000 Species of Bees
Drama 2023 128 mins Director: Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren
Sofía Otero ignites this warm, rich Spanish drama woven from a child’s probing question: who am I?
Undertow Undertow
Drama 2009 101 mins Director: Javier Fuentes-León
Miguel, a young married fisherman with a baby on the way, struggles to reconcile his devotion to his male lover within his town’s rigid traditions.
Tótem Tótem
Drama 2022 95 mins Director: Lila Avilés
A poignant birthday party exposes a series of family tensions in Lila Avilés’ outstanding follow-up to The Chambermaid.
The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future
Fantasy 2022 99 mins Director: Francisca Alegría
Francisca Alegría brings together family trauma and ecology into a poetic journey of rebirth. A mysterious and poetic tale on our collapsing ecosystem and finding balance.
Underground Underground
Comedy 1995 170 mins Director: Emir Kusturica
Set against the backdrop of 50 turbulent years of Yugoslavian history, this deeply moving and masterful tragic-farce from director Emir Kusturica earned him his second Palme d'Or.