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Licensor Information
HanWay Films
Directed by: Nagisa Oshima
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.
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Release Information:
Technical Specifications
Format:
Blu-ray
Disc:
BD-50 (1 Disc)
Total: 1 Disc
Regions:
A (Blu-ray)
Aspect Ratio:
1.78:1
Audio Options:
English DTS-HD MA Surround 2.0
Resolution:
1080p/24
Subtitles:
English
Supplements
Types of Supplements Included: Interview, Documentary, Featurette, Theatrical Trailer, Booklet
- New video interviews with producer Jeremy Thomas, screenwriter Paul Mayersberg, actor Tom Conti, and actor-composer Ryuichi Sakamoto
- Hasten Slowly, an hour-long 1996 documentary about author Laurens van der Post, whose autobiographical novel was the basis for the film
- The Oshima Gang, a 1983 making-of featurette
- Original theatrical trailer
- A booklet featuring a new essay by film critic Chuck Stephens and reprinted interviews with director Nagisa Oshima and actor Takeshi Kitano
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Film
Picture
Audio
Supplements
Artwork
Release Credits
Artwork: Lucien S. Y. Yang
Producer: Karen Stetler
Release Notes on Restoration
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.78:1. On standard 4:3 televisions, the image will appear letterboxed. On widescreen televisions, the image should fill the screen. This new high-definition digital transfer was created from a 35mm interpositive scanned in 2K resolution on a Spirit Datacine 4K machine at Midnight Transfer, London. 2K color correction was done using Assimilate’s Scratch system, and dirt and scratch removal was done using Pixel Farm’s PFClean system at CineImage, London. This corrected data was output to high-definition tape at On Sight, London. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, jitter, and flicker were manually removed using MTI’s DRS system, while Digital Vision’s DVNR system was used for small dirt, grain, and noise reduction.
Presented in its original stereo surround format, the soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from the 35mm LT/RT magnetic audio track at Sync Sound Audio, London. Pops, crackle, hiss, and hum were reduced using an array of audio restoration techniques.
Presented in its original stereo surround format, the soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from the 35mm LT/RT magnetic audio track at Sync Sound Audio, London. Pops, crackle, hiss, and hum were reduced using an array of audio restoration techniques.