Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence

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.

Plot

The film deals with the relationships among four men in a Japanese prisoner of war camp during the Second World War — Major Jack Celliers (Bowie), a rebellious New Zealander with a guilty secret from his youth; Captain Yonoi (Sakamoto), the young camp commandant; Lieutenant Colonel John Lawrence (Conti), a British officer who has lived in Japan and speaks Japanese fluently; and Sergeant Hara (Takeshi), who is seemingly brutal and yet humane in some ways and with whom Lawrence develops a peculiar friendship.

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (instrumental)

"Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" is a 1983 instrumental by Japanese electronic composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. The song was originally made for the film of the same name. In recent years, the song has become a staple of holiday music in the USA, England and Japan. A vocal version of this song was released titled "Forbidden Colours" which featured the same instrumental music and vocals by former Japan frontman David Sylvian charted in the top 20 of the UK Singles Chart and Irish Singles Chart.

Covers

There is a 12" vinyl Italo disco cover version on the Italian record label Discomagic named "Clock On 5 - Theme From Furyo" which was released in 1984. In 2000, a re-mix of Ryuichi Sakamoto's Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence called "Heart of Asia" was released in Europe by dance group Watergate, and it reached #3 on the UK Singles Chart. In 2004, Croatian pianist Maksim Mrvica included a piano remix of "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" on his third album, Variations Part I&II. Hikaru Utada also borrows the theme for her 2009 song, "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence - FYI" from the album This Is The One.

Mr. Lawrence

Douglas Lawrence Osowski (born January 1, 1969), better known as Mr. Lawrence and sometimes credited as Doug Lawrence, is an American voice actor, writer, comedian, and animator, best known for his work as a writer and actor for the animated series SpongeBob SquarePants and Rocko's Modern Life.

Life and career

Lawrence was born in East Brunswick, New Jersey. He is known for his work on the animated TV series SpongeBob SquarePants, on which he has long-running-roles as Sheldon Plankton, Larry the Lobster, Elaine and various other characters including Artist at Sea.

He was the voice of Edward T. Platypus, Nurse Leslie, Dave, and Ping-Pong on Camp Lazlo. Lawrence also performed the voice of Filburt in Rocko's Modern Life and is recently the voice of the Announcer and Manant in The Aquabats! Super Show!. Lawrence is a standup comedian, cartoonist, writer-director, animator and producer on the television series Johnny Talk. He worked on The Ren and Stimpy Show in its second season as a layout assistant. Apart from his voice work he is a writer on SpongeBob SquarePants and worked as a writer on Rocko's Modern Life and The Twisted Whiskers Show. He is currently a writer and story editor on Mighty Magiswords, Cartoon Network's first original online series.