Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)
David Bowie: Celliers
Photos
Quotes
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Maj. Jack Celliers : [eating flowers] Well I've tried the Manju, and I've tried the flowers, and I think the flowers taste better.
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[Jack is being led to the firing squad]
Lt. Ito : [Chuckles] Can you guess what I'm thinking?
Maj. Jack Celliers : Yes, I think so. Can you?
[Lt. Ito's smile turns into a frown, he strikes Celliers]
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Maj. Jack Celliers : Lawrence... We're going walkies.
Col. John Lawrence : Jack...
Maj. Jack Celliers : Now listen, we're getting out of here. You're going over my shoulder.
Col. John Lawrence : We can't, Jack. The tube line doesn't come out this far.
Maj. Jack Celliers : It's okay. Everything's all right. Captain Yonoi gave me a Persian rug.
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Col. John Lawrence : So Sergeant Hara you're human after all.
Sgt. Gengo Hara : Lawrence-san! Do you know Father Christmas?
Maj. Jack Celliers : What's he saying to us?
Col. John Lawrence : Yes Hara-san. Father Christmas means Santa Claus.
Sgt. Gengo Hara : [laughs] Tonight I'm Father Christmas. I'm Father Christmas! Father Christmas!
Col. John Lawrence : He thinks he's Santa Claus. Father. Father. Father Christmas.
Sgt. Gengo Hara : [laughs] Father Christmas!
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Maj. Jack Celliers : Look, why don't I have a defense council? Excactly what kind of trial are you giving me? This whole thing's a bloody farce.
President of the Court : [In Japanese] Erase all remarks by the defendant form the court record.
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Col. John Lawrence : [talking to Jack through the wall dividing two holding cells] You should have joined the Foreign Legion, Jack. It would have been an easier life.
Maj. Jack Celliers : That's the last thing I want.
Col. John Lawrence : [hearing the soldiers approaching] Ah, here comes the milkman now!
Maj. Jack Celliers : [joins in the joke] Two pints?
Col. John Lawrence : Shouldn't we order an extra one? It's Christmas, remember?
Maj. Jack Celliers : [patters] Heavens, Christmas already. Well, it was lovely chatting but I really must fly.
Col. John Lawrence : [laughs] It's not you. They've come for me!
[being dragged out of the cell]
Maj. Jack Celliers : [being dragged too] How is it John you're always wrong?
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Lieutenant Iwata : A Japanese soldier would never submit to being caught. He would prefer to die!
Maj. Jack Celliers : Well, then, I'm not a Japanese.
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Maj. Jack Celliers : I wish I could sing.
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Maj. Jack Celliers : What is wrong with them, Lawrence?
Col. John Lawrence : I don't know. They were a nation of anxious people. And they could do nothing individually. So they went mad, en masse. God I wish they'd stop hitting me. I don't want to hate any individual Japanese.
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Maj. Jack Celliers : [about to be led to the firing squad, mimes shaving with a straight razor, impersonating two people having a conversation] Good day for it, sir.
Maj. Jack Celliers : Yes... You have family waiting for you, corporal?
Maj. Jack Celliers : Wife and two kids, sir. One with and one without. How's about yourself, sir?
[mimes eating from his palm, then crying for a moment]
Maj. Jack Celliers : Tea?
Maj. Jack Celliers : Yes, I'd like that.
[mimes drinking, then smoking and crushing an imaginary cigarette]
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Lieutenant Iwata : You must tell us your past history.
Maj. Jack Celliers : My past is my business!
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Maj. Jack Celliers : [Lawrence cries out] John? What's up John?
Col. John Lawrence : I was dreaming. I was dreaming about this woman.
Maj. Jack Celliers : Christ, sounds like she cut it off.
Col. John Lawrence : I only met he twice. - - I met her only twice. Just before the fall of Singapore. The streets were just packed with people. Everybody was trying to get out. They'd all gone mad. The hotels were packed. Everybody was screaming and shouting. And there was this woman, who was - she was different from all the rest, really. She didn't seem to be frightened. I was frightened. We talked about the war and she kept saying, "Tell me the truth. What's the truth? I want to know the truth." It was a bloody silly question, really. Anyway, we arranged to have breakfast together the next morning. And would you believe it? I was whipped off. The attack had started. The Japanese landed. Anyway, I got back to the hotel a few days later and would you believe it? She was still there. She was standing in - in exactly the same place that I'd left her. It was as if she hadn't move since I walked away. Like I'd run across the street for a packet of cigarettes. I don't think I want to talk about this anymore really.
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Yonoi : What did you say?
Maj. Jack Celliers : I said I thought they were crackers.
Yonoi : What?
Maj. Jack Celliers : I said I thought they were mad!
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Yonoi : Who do you think you are? Are you an evil spirit?
Maj. Jack Celliers : Yes, and one of yours I hope.
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Col. John Lawrence : Jack? Are you there?
Maj. Jack Celliers : Yes. I suppose so.
Col. John Lawrence : What's the matter?
Maj. Jack Celliers : The past, again and again.
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Maj. Jack Celliers : What's your Christian name, by the way, Lawrence?
Col. John Lawrence : John.
Maj. Jack Celliers : John. John Lawrence. Good night, John Lawrence.
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Maj. Jack Celliers : I've not had many romantic interludes of great importance. My experience lies in the field of betrayal.
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Col. John Lawrence : Jack...
Maj. Jack Celliers : Hmm?
Col. John Lawrence : [referring to Capt. Yonoi] I think he's just taken a bit of a shine to you.