As the work of director Nagisa Oshima, who has filmed "The Kingdom of the Senses" and "Marx My Love", the taste of this film is absolutely bland, not as shocking as the two I listed, but it is equally shocking in another aspect. .
This is a work without female characters. This is the film debut of Takeshi Kitano, David Bowie and Ryuichi Sakamoto, and it is also the soundtrack debut of Ryuichi Sakamoto, so there is the classic "Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence". In my opinion, the roles played by these three people are not the protagonists of the film. The real protagonist is MR LAWRENCE played by TOM CONTI, a British military officer. This character strung the whole movie, and it was this character who said what I think is the most classic line. TOM CONTI's acting skills blew up the limitations of the screen and completely brought the audience into it. In contrast, Ryuichi Sakamoto shows beautiful eyes and David Bowie shows temperament. In this movie, you can see Takeshi Kitano who can laugh normally.
The story takes place in 1942 in a Japanese prisoner of war camp on the Indonesian island of Java. This camp was presided over by Captain Yai and Sergeant Yuan. Captain Yai, played by Ryuichi Sakamoto, is an idealistic young officer who always makes peace with prisoners of war within the limits allowed. The former sergeant played by Takeshi Kitano is a strong man who emphasizes the spirit of Bushido. He treats the prisoners and his soldiers very cruelly and harshly, but he has no lack of compassion for his friend Lawrence. At the beginning of the film, the melody of the theme song comes out, accompanied by the punishment of a Japanese soldier who raped a Dutch prisoner of war and the plot of the Dutch prisoner of war. In just 5 minutes, it reflects the fear, disgust and fear of homosexuality in the Japanese army at that time. At the same time, the role of Lawrence, a man of war between the prisoners of war and the Japanese army, and the protector of the prisoners of war was established, reflecting his special identity.
Then the British officer JACK, played by David Bowie, appeared, making the prisoner of war unsettled. JACK is a symbol of free spirit. From the first moment he appeared, it can be said that Noi was attracted to him. Although Noi appears to be human, the militarism in his bones and the freedom represented by Jack are always in conflict. The climax of the conflict was Noi's execution of the captain of the British prisoner. JACK walked in front of him and was overthrown by Noi. Then JACK stood up and continued to walk in front of Noi, kissing Noi's cheek, and Noi's legs instantly softened. The captain rescued, but JACK could not escape death. On the night of JACK's death, Noi took a knife and cut off a strand of JACK's blond hair. This is the second time the theme song of the film is played.
On a Christmas Eve when Lawrence and JACK were imprisoned, the former Sergeant gave freedom as a Christmas gift to Lawrence and JACK, and said the phrase "Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence". At the end of the film, three years have passed, and Noi has been executed. He commissioned Lawrence to sacrifice Jack's blonde hair at the shrine in his hometown. The night before the former Sergeant was to be executed, it happened to be Christmas Eve again, and Lawrence went to visit him. Although their identities had been exchanged, they were still friends. Sergeant Yuan said: "I'm ready to die, but I don't understand. My crimes were no different from any other soldier's." Lawrence replied: "You are the victim of men who think they are right, just as one day you and Captain Yonoi, believe that absolutely you were right. And truth is, of course, that nobody is right." The film starts with the former Sergeant saying "Merry Christmas, merry Christmas, Mr Lawrencmerry Christmas" to Lawrence for the second time conclude. With Kitano Takeshi's smile frozen, the theme song played for the third time, poking my tears.
Although it is a Japanese movie, the entire movie is mostly written in English (which made me accustomed to the alien language such as Japanese and English after watching it). And its Oshima Nagisa also wrote and filmed the film from a reflective point of view. The background of the prisoner of war camp allows the cultural and ideological conflict to be well displayed. And what Lawrence said in the film is very accurate. When Noi practiced his sword with a loud noise, Lawrence said "Japan is an anxious people, they have to be together to do things, so they're all crazy." When Noi informed Lawrence that he was going to be the scapegoat for bringing the radio into the POW camp, He said "It's your gods, it's your goddamn gods. That's what you've become. May they rot in hell! Those goddamn gods!" In a culture clash, self-reflection could be this movie The point is.
Nagisa Oshima is really a courageous director, and he deserves to be the most influential Japanese director after Akira Kurosawa.
ps: Before watching this movie, I didn't even know there was TOM CONTI, but after watching this movie, I think he would be a monster if he didn't win any awards. A check, and sure enough, the National Critics Association's Best Actor, Oscar, Golden Globe nominee, Tony Award, Lawrence Olivier Award winner... Already, recently he was also poached by Christopher Nolan to play "The Dark Knight" Rise". And, he really looks like a combination of Al Pacino + Dustin Hoffman.
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