More Details

Summary:

British army officer Jack Celliers is sentenced to a Japanese P.O.W. camp in Java where he engages in a private war of wills with the camp's commander and a belligerent sergeant. Despite the gruesome setting, Celliers and his fellow prisoner John Lawrence come to understand and respect the special Japanese code of honor.

Table of Contents:

• disc one. The film
• disc two. The supplements.

Contributors:

Ōshima, Nagisa, 1932-2013 , screenwriter, director

Thomas, Jeremy , producer

Mayersberg, Paul , screenwriter

Conti, Tom , actor

Bowie, David , actor

Sakamoto, Ryūichi, 1952-2023 , actor

Bīto Takeshi , actor

Thompson, Jack, 1940- , actor

Van der Post, Laurens

Recorded Picture Company

Zenkoku Asahi Hōsō Kabushiki Kaisha

Criterion Collection (Firm)

Languages:

English
Japanese

Language Notes:

English and Japanese dialogue with optional English subtitles.

Main Work:

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (Motion picture)

Related Works:

Motion picture adaptation of: Seed and the sower [by Van der Post, L.]

Related Series:

Criterion collection; [volume] 535

Subjects:

Van der Post, Laurens — Film adaptations

World War, 1939-1945 — Prisoners and prisons, Japanese — Drama

World War, 1939-1945 — Concentration camps — Indonesia — Java — Drama

Prisoners of war — Great Britain — Drama

Prisoners of war — Indonesia — Java — Drama

Van der Post, Laurens

World War (1939-1945)

1939-1945

Prisoners of war

Concentration camps

Great Britain

Indonesia — Java

Genres:

Motion pictures

War films

Biographical films

Film adaptations

Fiction films

Feature films

Video recordings for the hearing impaired

Drama

System Details:

DVD, NTSC, region 1, Dolby digital 2.0; widescreen (1.78:1).

Performers:

Cast: Tom Conti, David Bowie, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Takeshi [Kitano], Jack Thompson.

Production Credits:

Director of photography, Toichiro Narushima ; editor, Tomoyo Oshima ; music, Ryuichi Sakamoto.

General Notes:

Originally produced as a motion picture in 1983.
Based on the novel The seed and the sower by Sir Laurens Van der Post," which was based on the author's experiences as a WWII prisoner of war.
Bonus features: original theatrical trailer; making-of featurette "The Oshima gang"; new video interviews; "Hasten slowly," a documentary on Laurens van der Post.

Physical Description:

2 videodiscs (124 min.) : sound, color ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 booklet (28 pages : illustrations ; 18 cm).

Physical Characteristics:

plastic; metal; 4 3/4 in.; polychrome

Audio Characteristics:

digital; optical

Video Characteristics:

NTSC

Digital Characteristics:

video file; DVD video; region 1

Call Numbers:

MER 1983 DVD

ISBNs:

9781604653151
1604653159

Other Standard Numbers:

Universal Product Code: 715515061919
Publisher Number, The Criterion Collection: CC1928D

OCLC Numbers:

1037216088
662735441 [Invalid]