UK VHS Trailer Reel: Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence (Pre-Cert Palace, PVC2058A, 07.1983) · 3:53pm Dec 25th, 2016
Opens with an early version of the Palace Video warning (that does not end in "...OR ELSE!") Then it has the Palace Video logo and previews for THE MOON IN THE GUTTER (one of Gerard Depardieu's earliest films), BIG MEAT EATER, THE RUTLES (aka ALL YOU NEED IS CASH; Beatles spoof which has George Harrison in a role as interviewer for the group and featured appearances from Mick Jagger, Paul Simon, Roger McGough), and the French film DIVA (which is preceded by a screen saying that an English [dubbed] version is now available by public demand - was any such demand anyway anywhere?) The Palace Video is shown again, followed by a BBFC card.
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (Japanese: Senjō no Merī Kurisumasu, 戦場のメリークリスマス, "Merry Christmas on the Battlefield"), also known in many European editions as Furyo (俘虜, Japanese for "prisoner of war"), is a 1983 British-Japanese drama film directed by Nagisa Oshima, produced by Jeremy Thomas and starring David Bowie, Tom Conti, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Takeshi Kitano and Jack Thompson.
The screenplay by Oshima with Paul Mayersberg was based on Sir Laurens van der Post's experiences as a Japanese prisoner of war during World War II as depicted in his works The Seed and the Sower (1963) and The Night of the New Moon (1970). Sakamoto also wrote the score and the vocal theme "Forbidden Colours", featuring David Sylvian.
The film was entered into the 1983 Cannes Film Festival in competition for the Palme d'Or. Sakamoto's score also won the film a BAFTA Award for Best Film Music.
