Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (DVD)

In 1942, many British prisoners (and other nationalities) are languishing in Japanese prisoner of war camps in Java. Colonel John Lawrence is one of them and, being a Japanese speaker and student of the Japanese culture, he is a valuable medium between the prisoners and the Japanese running it - he is particularly close to Captain Yonoi, the head of the camp, and Sergeant Gengo Hara. Then a new prisoner arrives, Major Jack Celliers, a New Zealander who refuses to bow down to the Japanese, despite all the beatings and punishments that they throw his way, which puts Lawrence in a difficult position. Thankfully Captain Yonoi seems to take a liking to Celliers. Will this ...  Read the complete review

The ‘special features’ on the DVD disappointed me. The only extras included are the cinematic trailer and a few still pictures, including some from the making of the film and a couple from deleted scenes. But why not include the deleted scenes themselves, and maybe a ‘making of’ documentary, etc.? Whilst the DVD is somewhat lacking, the same could not be said of the film itself. Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence is an excellent film that features some strong acting performances. It is set in a WW2 Japanese prisoner of war camp and stars David Bowie as Celliers, a new entrant to the camp; Ryuichi Sakamoto as the Camp’s ...  Read the complete review