Art House: Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence shows the brutality of Japanese POW camps

There wasn't much to be merry about in a Japanese prisoner of war (POW) camp in 1942, during the Christmas season or any other time.

Allied prisoners were considered worthless by their captors, who saw surrender as a fate literally worse than death. This was, at least partially, the Japanese rationale for their brutal treatment of prisoners.

The threat of such violence is a constant presence in Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence, and is presented in a matter-of-fact way that allows the viewer to understand the reality of the POW environment: hours or days of tedium broken by flashes of violence and death.

But within this cocoon of misery, distractions provided by mischief, perseverance, and thoughts of love helped give both captives and captors the means to carry on with their lives.

In a POW camp on Java in 1942, a new prisoner arrives. Major Celliers (David Bowie) finds himself in the centre of a conflict between Allied prisoners and their Japanese captors.

The camp's young commandant, Captain Yonoi (Ryuichi Sakamoto, who also wrote the film's score), is locked in a struggle with the prisoners' commander, Group Captain Hicksley (Jack Thompson), over the proper conduct and obligations of prisoners of war.

Attempting to mediate this conflict is Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence (Tom Conti), who spent time in Japan before the war and is bilingual. Lawrence spends much of his time with Sergeant Hara (Takeshi Kitano in his first significant dramatic role), whose personality is the opposite of the reserved Captain Yonoi.