Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence

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Part of our The Way of the Sword Film Talk Series!

Travel with Ryan Ferguson to Japan as he continues his explorations into the hidden corners of a rich film culture, featuring rarely screened cult classics and enough WTF-strangeness to keep you coming back for more!

40th Anniversary!

In this captivating, skewed World War II drama from Nagisa Oshima, David Bowie regally embodies Celliers, a British officer interned by the Japanese as a POW. Rock star Ryuichi Sakamoto (who also composed this film’s hypnotic score) plays the camp commander, obsessed with the mysterious blond major, while Tom Conti is the British lieutenant colonel Lawrence, who tries to bridge the emotional and language divides between captor and prisoner. Also featuring actor-director Takeshi Kitano in his first dramatic role, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence is a multilayered, brutal, at times erotic tale of culture clash, and one of Oshima’s greatest successes.

Presented in English and Japanese with English subtitles.

Ryan Ferguson

Ryan Ferguson is a film programmer and musician based in Hamilton, ON. He was the lead programmer of the AGH Film Festival between 2014 and 2021 and is the former Curator of Film at the Art Gallery of Hamilton. Japanese historical and contemporary filmmaking is Ryan’s primary area of interest, and ‘The Way of the Sword’ is part of a series of film programs he is developing to provide more exposure to the lesser-seen corners of Japanese cinema.

Showtimes:

• December 1 @ 8:00 pm
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