Review: ‘Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence’, The Best Christmas Film You’ve Never Seen
‘Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence’ isn’t as direct in its festivity as most Christmas films, but its radical empathy makes it a masterpiece
For years now, my Christmas film rotation has been stagnant. It’s a Wonderful Life is the one absolute must, pretty much every year. A Christmas without it wouldn’t be quite the same, even if it is one of those few films which renders me unable to do much for the rest of the day after seeing it and I have to watch it alone due to my family’s aversion to black-and-white films. Home Alone and its first sequel are also up there, more so because of nostalgic connections and because my younger brother enjoys them immensely. Others come and go — Arthur Christmas was forced upon me for a few years, but thankfully not anymore. I think if I see that film again I’ll be sick.
Last year, I wanted something a little different. So, I forced my very reluctant mum into watching Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence with me, the first viewing for us both. I had to con her into watching it, saying that stars David Bowie and Tom Conti were English and that that probably meant that the subtitled sections would be minimal. They, of course, are not, but it was too late by the time that that…
