Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence

"What this movie needed was a diplomatic acting coach."

"(It) is sometimes tense and surprising, sometimes merely bizarre."

"Oshima's handling of the narrative is not so much elliptical as awkward, and Bowie's performance is embarrassingly wooden."

"Bowie is superb, as is Ryuichi Sakamoto, whose evocative soundtrack is one of the best ever to grace a motion picture."

"If films were made by pulling the lever on a fruit machine to generate a random combination of actors, plot and setting, you would occasionally get a hilarious freak like Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence."

"Lurid sadism blends with equally lurid lyricism..."

"By no means an easy picture to deal with..."

"Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence fascinates mostly for the hit-and-miss alchemy of its discordant elements..."

"Bowie is a potent irritant, but Tom Conti is solid in support..."

"The performances are riveting throughout..."