David Bowie is captured by the Japanese and sent to a prison camp, where the British commander is a bluff, old-school sort, but the Japanese commandant, Ryuichi Sakamoto, is a believer in bushido, and the cowardice of the British soldier. Tom Conti, who spent time in Japan before the war, tries to bridge the gap, but no one believes him.

It's another of director Nagisa Ôshima's trashing of the old order in Japan, ased on a memoir by Lourens van der Post. In many ways, it reminds me of BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, with its state of mutual insanity, except unlike Sessue Hayakawa's commandant in that picture, there;s never the slightest hesitation or uncertainty on other side: right is right, wrong is wrong, and the other fellow is a filthy beast. Even Conti is insane, with his belief that he can ameliorate the situation.

Magnificent score by Sakamoto, who was embarrassed by his performance when the Japanese audience laughed at it during a screening. He was known at that time almost exclusively as a comic actor.

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence is, as the title would suggest, about as far from your typical old-fashioned prisoner-of-war movie as it can get. This film is about Allied officers in a Japanese prison but instead of being about escape attempts, as so many films in this genre are, it's instead a treatise on the human condition that explores the nature of warfare and the human spirit in its fight for justice and honour. The film I would most liken it to is HELL IN THE PACIFIC.

Essentially this is a film about four men whose lives intertwine as the sometimes shocking events in the camp play out. Tom Conti is the straight man through whom we experience the film; he's good, but he has his thunder stolen by the others. Ryuichi Sakamoto has the toughest role as the camp commander driven by old-fashioned ideals and conflicted by personal desire; he also contributed the film's unusual, effective score. David Bowie is the headlining character and makes his role charming with seeming effortlessness. Best of the bunch is the great Japanese Yakuza actor 'Beat' Takeshi, playing an unusual and ambiguous character; he gets the final scene to himself, which just so happens to be the film's most moving moment.

It's 1942 in a Japanese POW camp in Java. Sgt. Hara is a sadistic guard unable to understand the prisoners' willingness to accept shame. British officer Col. John Lawrence is the Japanese speaking leader of the prisoners. Camp commander Capt. Yonoi joins in the court-martial of Maj. Jack Celliers (David Bowie) for leading a native revolt against the Japanese. Celliers is adjudicated a POW and Yonoi takes an interest in him.

These are four compelling characters. Tom Conti is solid. Ryuichi Sakamoto is interesting. Takeshi Kitano is absolutely brilliant. David Bowie delivers a mercurial performance. I want the plot to be bigger and more intense. It's also a bit long and meanders in the second half. I do love the final scenes with Hara and Lawrence.