tc 1992
11Apr13
jack m, i agree with you thought Bowie was fantstic
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Displaying all 20 wall posts
Tom Barnard
17Feb13
Perhaps more appealing in its muddled nature, the final scene is genuinely affecting, and the score is beautiful.
Matthew Martens
16Dec12
1983: Annus mirabilis for David Bowie. First Let's Dance, then this. The album is the greater achievement, sure, but how nice it is to have this visual record of the man, looking not unlike one of the "superhuman gods" that Col. Lawrence contends the Imperial Japanese long to become. In Captain Yanoi's strangled desire for Celliers Oshima reenacts the attraction/repulsion dynamic between post-Edo Japan and the West.
Mr. Arkadin
24Nov12
Love the score, as well as the Bowie/Conti/Sakamoto triangle. Its homoerotic subtext is maybe less startling to me, as I've been watching a similar argument being made in yakuza films for years (*Gozu* being the most batsh*t and extreme example of this). It's unfair to compare it to that movie, but I'm left wondering if the exploration of the suppressed triangle, the complicated desires, went quite far enough.
Zachary George Najarian-Najafi
22Nov12
David Bowie+Ruyichi Sakamoto+Takeshi 'Beat' Kitano; it's hard not to love this film. This is a strange and hypnotically beautiful work, and I'm not really sure what to make of it. It plays out like fragments of dreams that don't quite add up to a whole, but rather a shattered portrait. This was probably the best introduction to Oshima, as well. A bit overlong, but fascinating none the less.
Judicial Joe
20May12
Seppuku, repressed homosexuality and Bowie make for an interesting, if overlong and slightly confusing, work by post-Ai No Corrida Oshima.
Fábio Gomes
18Dec11
Too much boredom. Horrible script, worst acting, uninteresting cinematography. All bad.
João Eça likes this
Gembira Putra Agam
27Jun11
so sorry about Ryuichi Sakamoto's acting here. but he had paid off that with magnificent soundtrack. three stars for the scriptwriting and other film details. add one stars for its music. merry kurimasu, Mr. Lawrence. haik!
Ben.
20Jun11
“We are victims of men who believe they are right, just as you and Yonoi believed absolutely that you were right. And the truth is, of course, that no one is right.”
REDLETTERPRINTS
24Mar11
One eye blue, one eye brown. You can tell he wants to break out in song the whole time.
Charles Ziegler-Hartmann likes this
Dana Henson
10Mar11
The soundtrack by Ryuichi Sakamoto is one of the best film soundtracks I have ever heard. The dream-like quality of the music is a really interesting contrast to the intensity of the movie. The most beautiful version of the Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence theme is on the album "1996" by Sakamoto; when the theme is played on the piano it really makes you realize what an exceptional piece of music it is.
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Tristan P. Teshigahara
16Jul11
as beautiful as the trio version is, I prefer his solo piano performance of it. It really is an exceptional piece.
Erik Villasenor
27Oct10
An exciting use of texture and symmetry, but with some questionable acting and musical contrast. A truely great film I'll watch over and over again.
a Smith
2Oct10
I happened to read a review of this before seeing it which said that it suffered from the disparity of acting styles between the Japanese and the Brits, but I can't agree. The acting styles fit their characters. David Bowie is probably the least impressive, but even he has moments and he's never terrible. Tom Conti is awesome, he and Takeshi made the movie. There are some interesting lighting choices on display.
RabbiReport
13Dec09
This is one of the oddest trailers I think I've ever seen. Clearly made before the "art of the trailer" was refined, it manages to show a lot of the film without giving you much of an idea of the plot or making you want to see it. Ignore the trailer and find the film!