treywillwest
This great film by Oshima strikes me as a mirror reflection of his earlier work of avant-eroticism, In the Realm of the Senses. In both pieces, power and desire threaten, in different, competing ways, to usurp subjective humanity.
The earlier movie took place just as the fascist Japanese war machine was fully consolidating itself. The self-effacing abandonment to libidinal joy is presented as the only way to escape a society that would crush the individual by controlling it. To completely abandon control of the self was the only way to escape control by the state. Unfortunately, both too much and too little power and control lead to death and/ or madness.
In this later film, set predominantly during the war in Asia, power has already claimed subjectivity as its captive. Desire still reveals itself, but only through momentary cracks in power's control of the subject. Power must reassert itself all the more brutally after this lapse. Desire therefore results in the greatest suffering, albeit with none of the self-destructive liberation seen in Realm.
The only real hope offered in Merry Christmas, however, still come from momentary lapses of power's control. This slight hope is not the result of desire, but of the intimacy that control accidentally engenders between captive and captor (both of whom are controlled).
Jackson Booth-Millard
It was coming up to the festive season, so I wanted to watch a few seasonal films I had never seen before, I assumed, from the title, that this was a Christmas movie, it comes nowhere close, but it didn't stop me watching it, directed by Nagisa Ôshima (In the Realm of the Senses, Gohatto). Basically in 1942, during World War II, in Java, an island in Indonesia, British-New Zealand Major Jack "Straffer" Celliers (David Bowie) arrives in the Japanese POW (Prisoner of War) camp, he has surrendered to avoid the Japanese soldiers murdering local villagers. The camp commander Captain Yonoi (Ryuichi Sakamoto) is sort of fascinated by Jack, he sends him to the infirmary to be treated. Liaison of the prisoners is British officer Lieutenant Colonel John Lawrence (Tom Conti), he can speak Japanese, often convening with Yonoi and Sergeant Gengo Hara (Takeshi's Castle star Takeshi Kitano). Lawrence has lives with the Japanese for many years, so can understand their culture, it is questioned if Lawrence will one day replace ranking Allied officer and prisoner representative Group Captain Hicksley (Jack Thompson). When rebel Jack leaves the infirmary, he challenges Yonoi, who follows principles of honour and discipline, in Yonoi's view, the prisoners are cowards, choosing to surrender rather than commit suicide, he sees them as weak and dishonourable. As the interpreter, Lawrence tries to explain the Japanese way of thinking, but in doing so he is considered a traitor, but Lawrence see their cruel and bloodthirsty nature. The arrival of Celliers has had an effect on all of the camp, Yonoi believes that Jack is possessed by demons, later as a means of punishment Celliers is buried up to his neck in a pit filled with sand, he is left there to die. Four years later, Hara has learned to speak English, he reminisces with Lawrence about Celliers and Yonoi, he also mentions the amusement of a Christmas Eve, in the end, they bid each other farewell, with Hara saying "Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence!" Also starring Johnny Ohkura as Kanemoto, Alistair Browning as De Jong, James Malcolm as Celliers' Brother and Chris Broun as Celliers aged 12. The late great Bowie gives a terrific performance as the rebellious soldier, Conti does well as the bilingual prisoner forced to act as intermediary for both sides, and there is good support from Sakamoto, Kitano and Thompson. Admittedly I could not follow everything going on, and not just because of the occasional cuts into Japanese language with subtitles, for example there is the odd dream sequence with Bowie in a school uniform, but is does deliver messages about duty and culpability, and the characters are interesting, overall it is a worthwhile Second World War drama. It won the BAFTA for Best Score for Ryuichi Sakamoto. Good!
Claudio Carvalho
In 1942, in Java, the British Major Jack 'Strafer' Celliers (David Bowie) arrives in the Japanese POW camp and is submitted to a Japanese court to examine his surrender. He explains that the Japanese soldiers would murder the local villagers and he decided to surrender to avoid the massacre. The camp commander Captain Yonoi (Ryûichi Sakamoto) feels a sort of fascination for Jack and sends him to the infirmary to be treated. The liaison of the prisoners with Yonoi and Sergeant Gengo Hara (Takeshi Kitano), Colonel John Lawrence (Tom Conti), has lived in Japan for many years and can understand both cultures and their leader is Captain Hicksley (Jack Thompson). When the rebel Jack leaves the infirmary, he challenges Yonoi, who is a man that follows the principles of honor and discipline. Yonoi believes that Jack is possessed by demons and their confrontation will lead the British to a tragic end. Yesterday my homage to David Bowie was watching again maybe for the fourth or fifth time one of his best films. "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence" is certainly one of the best anti-war films ever made. The beginning with the music of Ryuichi Sakamoto indicates how classy it is. This film has not lost the impact along the years and it is impressive how the difference of Western and Japanese cultures is depicted through the British Jack 'Strafer' Celliers and the Japanese Yonoi. In between there is John Lawrence, a man who can understand both sides based on his life experience. Psychology explains that in areas involving control, such as dominance, people tend to pair up with their opposites. Therefore the sick discussion about homosexuality of Yonoi and Jack is ridiculous. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "Furyo, Em Nome da Honra" ("Furyo, In Name of the Honor")
