Our eighth film club meeting!

We watched the movie "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" this Thursday 7 September 2023. This is our first film club meeting for the new school year! This movie was recommended by Jeff, one of our group members. I had heard of the movie before because of its soundtrack, but I had never seen it. Jeff's suggestion to watch this movie gave me the motivation to finally watch a film that I had heard about for a long time but had never seen.

At the beginning of the movie, I didn't quite understand it. I could grasp that Mr. Lawrence was an interpreter in a Japanese POW camp, but I didn't understand his connection to the love that was going to develop between the two main characters. As the movie's plot unfolded, I gradually realized that Mr. Lawrence and Gengo Hara represented two different ways of thinking, Japanese and Western.

One moment that stood out to me was when Lawrence told Gengo Hara that death was a coward's escape from reality, and the volume of Gengo Hara's voice gradually rose as he disagreed. I think Lawrence's belief that death is an act of cowardice may be because he believes that life is scarier than death. We often say that death is the end of everything, and it is commonly thought that after death, you don't have to experience the pain of being alive anymore, so death is a relief, an escape. He believes that often, it's the living who suffer and that every day is painful as they have to endure both mental and physical challenges. But Gengo Hara's thoughts were different; I think he believed that death was dreadful and painful, and only those who faced death bravely were courageous. Especially the way they chose to die, by hara-kiri, was a very painful way to die. Gengo Hara believed it demonstrated their courage and the soldiers' loyalty; to him, to live meant avoiding death and escaping pain. I am more inclined to support Mr. Lawrence's point of view because enduring life is long-lasting pain, whereas, in our current understanding, death is brief but intense pain. I once mentioned the phrase, "Long pain is better than short pain." If we all have to endure pain, why not endure it for a period of time?

However, at the same time, I believe there is merit in what Gengo Hara said. Life is often regarded as the most valuable thing, and when people make a commitment, the greatest guarantee may be with their lives. When soldiers were captured, death was one way they could demonstrate bravery and commitment with force. Due to the long-standing fear and reverence for death, this method was indeed seen as very brave. Especially choosing a particularly painful way to die, like hara-kiri.

Another aspect of the movie that left a strong impression on me was when, in the POW camp, Gengo Hara said, "Merry Christmas, Lawrence." But when Gengo Hara was imprisoned and Lawrence came to visit him, at their parting, Gengo Hara said, "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence." I think Gengo Hara's use of the honorific "Mr. Lawrence" may have been a genuine post-war effort to show respect to Mr. Lawrence, or perhaps his English had improved while in prison. In any case, during the war, Gengo Hara enjoyed certain privileges, and he did not respect the prisoners and even mistreated them at times. However, after the war, he lost those privileges, became polite and educated, showed more respect for Mr. Lawrence, and treated him as a friend. Similarly, even though their ranks had changed, Mr. Lawrence continued to show respect for Gengo Hara and treated him as a friend. Instead of Mr. Lawrence and Gengo Hara becoming adversaries due to unfair treatment during the war, it resulted in an extraordinary friendship.

All in all, I didn't pay much attention to the love or hatred between Captain Yonoi and Jack Celliers in this movie. I thought they were a pair of unfortunate lovers who were born at the wrong time. Jack Celliers' experiences, especially those related to his brother, were a major reason for his enduring pain. I believe they both exemplify the two perspectives on death that I mentioned earlier. In the movie's ending, Captain Yonoi expresses his final bravery and loyalty by committing hara-kiri in defeat. On the other hand, Jack Celliers was buried in the sand until his death due to the various out-of-character actions he took in the barracks. I have wondered if his fate would have been different if he hadn't been as courageous and hadn't tried to save others' lives, as Mr. Lawrence did. Would he have not died if Captain Yonoi had spared him the death penalty and he had peacefully stayed in the POW camp? However, I believe Captain Yonoi might not have fallen in love with him if he hadn't been that way. What's more, he did not fear death; perhaps he saw death as a release while living and enduring long-term resistance was the most painful. The war brought them together, they fell in love, but they parted in pain.