Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence
Finally got around to watching the movie because I didn't have anything better to do this Christmas. I thought it was fine for a Christmas movie. Or maybe I'm just used to a miserable Christmas, I'm not sure.
Who knew Bowie was also an actor in addition to a singer? A gay one, that is. I'm in no way a fan or a supporter but I do respect his approach to art by being this sort of 'functional dysfunctional', at least according to an interview I once saw on him, in particular his struggles of being a fomer addict, if not mistaken. I'm not sure if that's what caused his anisocoria but I haven't looked much into it, just that it was one particular thing to point out.
After reading all the comments and reviews I think I can confirm that the gayness is more of an overtone than an undertone in a way that it shows a Japanese guy falling for some Brit at first sight. For no clear reason or not, I'm not sure but maybe there was this charm to Bowie that captivated this Japanese fellow. A big portion of the movie is him trying to accomodate to the Brit's convinience as a captive, but unfortunately duty got in the way of their relationship and ended up with the captive being executed.
The movie somehow features this occasional cultural exchange between a Japanese speaking lieutenant and another Japanese seargant, which I somewhat appreciate as a way to give the viewers context to their reaction and approach towards events throughout the movie. The cultural portrayal was also indirectly presented through the way both sides lead their soldiers, which I'm not sure if it was intentional, or whether I hadn't taken into consideration that one was siding with their own captive soldiers whereas the other side with their own well and healthy troops. As much as I understand culture is inevitably portrayed in everything, I still think it's cool to see a contrast between both, especially coming from a Japanese director.
I'm not sure if the tracks were intentionally meant to sound synthetic but I think it's understandable for its time, also coming from Ryuchi Sakamoto I don't think I'd be surprised with how experimental his works are, but I'm not sure, I never looked deep into it. One of the few notable tracks to come out from the movie is also based on the same title by the same composer, which is at this point mandatory every Christmas.
There is also another one by David Sylvian, which I think should be noted for making creative use of Sakamoto's melody. It has very strong overtones but I'm not sure whether it's a matter of interpretation or it is in fact intentionally done so. I'm somewhat conflicted about the reference of Christianity especially in this case but to each their own, I suppose.
The film is based on this novel called The Seed and The Sower, which unfortunately is nowhere to be found except the Internet Archive. Novels are always a good follow-up to films as they feature a more complete story or an alternative one to the adapted version, but maybe, just maybe, someday.