Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (Senjou no Merii Kurisumasu, aka Furyo in many European editions) is a 1983 film directed by Nagisa Oshima, produced by Jeremy Thomas and starring David Bowie, Tom Conti, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Takeshi Kitano. It was written by Oshima and Paul Mayersberg and based on World War II experiences as a prisoner of war of the writer Laurens van der Post as told in his works The Seed and the Sower (1963) and The Night of the New Moon (1970). Ryuichi Sakamoto also wrote the musical score and the vocal theme "Forbidden Colours" featuring David Sylvian was a hit single in many territories. The film deals with the relationships among four men in a Japanese prisoner of war camp during the Second World War Jack Celliers (Bowie), a rebellious prisoner with a guilty secret from his youth in New Zealand; Captain Yonoi (Sakamoto), the young camp commandant; Lieutenant Colonel John Lawrence (Conti), a British officer who has lived in Japan and speaks Japanese fluently;... full article at wikipedia