Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence

This feature explores desire, death, and guilt in a Japanese prisoner of war camp during WWll. Japanese art cinema legend Nagisa Ôshima (the infamous In the Realm of the Senses), cast musicians David Bowie (as a defiant captive) and Ryuichi Sakamoto (as a conflicted camp commander). The NZ-Japanese-English movie was shot in Auckland and Raratonga. It was financed through Kiwi company Broadbank during the 1980s tax shelter era. Kiwi crew included first assistant director Lee Tamahori, and actor Alistair Browning (Rain) as a prisoner of war. Sakamoto's electronic score — his first — was BAFTA-nominated.