The Coolidge Corner Theatre

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A Japanese prison camp in 1942 is the setting for this revelatory war drama. The characters include rebellious British prisoner Jack Celliers (David Bowie), camp commandant Captain Yonoi (Ryuichi Sakamoto), British officer Lieutenant Colonel John Lawrence (Tom Conti) and Sergeant Hara (Takeshi Kitano). While Hara and the Japanese-speaking Lawrence form an odd friendship, Yonoi becomes strangely fixated on Celliers as both men are tormented by guilt and regret. With a striking, influential musical score by Sakamato, the film is an uncommonly even-handed look at intercultural conflict.

(1983) dir: Nagisa Oshima, w/Bowie, Sakamoto, Kitano, Conti. 2h4m