"Actor: Takeshi Sakamoto"

• Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence | Blu Ray | (15/06/2020) from £9.35   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  David Bowie stars in Nagisa Oshima's 1983 Palme d'Or-nominated portrait of resilience, pride, friendship and obsession among four very different men confined in the stifling jungle heat of a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in Java during World War II. In 1942, British officer Major Jack Celliers (Bowie) is captured by Japanese soldiers, and after a brutal trial sent, physically debilitated but indomitable in mind, to a POW camp overseen by the zealous Captain Yonoi (Ryuichi Sakamoto). Celliers' stubbornness sees him locked in a battle of wills with the camp's new commandant, a man obsessed with discipline and the glory of Imperial Japan who becomes unnaturally preoccupied with the young Major, while Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence (Tom Conti), the only inmate with a degree of sympathy for Japanese culture and an understanding of the language, attempts to bridge the divide through his friendship with Yonoi's second-in-command, Sergeant Hara (Takeshi Kitano), a man possessing a surprising degree of compassion beneath his cruel façade. Produced by Jeremy Thomas (The Last Emperor, The Sheltering Sky), it was the first English-language film by Oshima (Death by Hanging, In the Realm of the Senses, Gohatto), a leading light of Japanese New Wave cinema, and provided breakthrough big-screen roles for comedian Takeshi Kitano and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, who also composed the film's hauntingly memorable BAFTA-winning score. This powerful wartime drama was adapted from Laurens van der Post's autobiographical novel ˜The Seed and the Sower' (1963) by screenwriter Paul Mayersberg (The Man Who Fell to Earth). SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS High Definition Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentation Original uncompressed stereo audio The Man Who Left His Soul on Film (1983), Paul Joyce's 82-minute documentary profile of Nagisa Oshima The Oshima Gang (1983), a 30-minute documentary following the film's cast and makers at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival Video interviews with producer Jeremy Thomas and actor-composer Ryuichi Sakamoto Exclusive newly filmed interview with critic Tony Rayns Original theatrical trailer Image gallery Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sam Hadley FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Jasper Sharp

• Ozu Collection - The Gangster Films (2-DVD) | DVD | (18/03/2013) from £21.99   |  Saving you £8.00 (36.38%)   |  RRP £29.99

  The latest volume in the BFI's ongoing releases of the works of Japanese master Yasujiro Ozu focuses on his crime films. These rare, silent works mix the thrills of western filmmaking with compositions that served as a forerunner to his renowned, mature, post-war style. All films are here presented with newly commissioned scores by Ed Hughes. Episode Comprise: Walk Cheerfully That Night's Wife Dragnet Girl Special Features: The only surviving fragment of A Straightforward Boy

• Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence | Blu Ray | (11/02/2022) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  David Bowie stars in Nagisa Oshima's 1983 Palme d'Or-nominated portrait of resilience, pride, friendship and obsession among four very different men confined in the stifling jungle heat of a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in Java during World War II.This powerful prisoner-of-war drama features a stunning cast - including David Bowie in one of his greatest roles - and is the first English-language film by acclaimed Japanese director Nagisa Oshima (In the Realm of the Senses).Set in Java at a Japanese POW camp in 1942, a war of wills - and unspoken erotic attraction - unfolds between a rebellious prisoner, David Bowie, and camp commandant Ryuichi Sakomoto, who is impressed by Bowie's defiance while bilingual prisoner Tom Conti (Mr. Lawrence) engages in a more adversarial relationship with sadistic sergeant Takeshi Kitano (Hana Bi), who finally offers Lawrence a sinister 'Christmas' present.Fine performances by Conti, Kitano (his first dramatic role), Sakamoto (his acting debut, he also contributed the memorable score) and Bowie, combined with stunning cinematography and brilliant direction by one of Japan's finest filmmakers, make this a memorable and compelling war drama.The Oshima Gang Featurette (The Making Of Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence)An Interview With producer Jeremy ThomasAn Interview With actor/composer Ryuichi SakamotoAn excerpt from Scenes by the Sea: The Life and Cinema of Beat Takeshi Kitano Theatrical Trailer