Arrow Academy are bringing the WWII drama to blu-ray.
Japanese filmmaker Nagisa Oshima (Death by Hanging, In the Realm of the Senses, Gohatto) made his English language filmmaking debut in 1983 with the WWII drama Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence.
The film stars David Bowie as a British officer captured by Japanese soldiers and sent to a gruelling POW camp overseen by a disciplinarian captain (musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, who also composed the film's memorable score). There, the two men quickly lock horns. Oshima's movie also features early roles for Tom Conti and future Japanese megastar Takeshi Kitano.
Arrow Academy are releasing Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence on blu-ray June 15th.
Bonus features include a feature length documentary on Oshima; a 30-minute documentary following the film’s cast and makers at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival; interviews with producer Jeremy Thomas, screenwriter Paul Mayersberg, actor Tom Conti, and actor-composer Ryuichi Sakamoto; a 60-minute documentary about Laurens van der Post, author of the film’s autobiographical source novel; a newly filmed interview with critic Tony Rayns; trailer; image gallery; and a collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Jasper Sharp (first pressing only).
Check out Arrow's new trailer, artwork and official synopsis below.
The official synopsis reads:
In 1942, British officer Major Jack Celliers (Bowie) is captured by Japanese soldiers, and after a brutal trial sent, physically debilitated but indomitable in mind, to a POW camp overseen by the zealous Captain Yonoi (Ryuichi Sakamoto). Celliers’ stubbornness sees him locked in a battle of wills with the camp’s new commandant, a man obsessed with discipline and the glory of Imperial Japan who becomes unnaturally preoccupied with the young Major, while Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence (Tom Conti), the only inmate with a degree of sympathy for Japanese culture and an understanding of the language, attempts to bridge the divide through his friendship with Yonoi’s second-in-command, Sergeant Hara (Takeshi Kitano), a man possessing a surprising degree of compassion beneath his cruel façade.
New Trailer for WELCOME TO THE CIRCLE Pits Campers Against Cult Membershttps://t.co/2BfUaViNw5 pic.twitter.com/p1MXL4z861— The Movie Waffler (@themoviewaffler) June 13, 2020