Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence: A Miserable Holiday Movie for a Miserable Year - Brows Held High

[@williamwong1982]

Sakamoto's score for this film is one of the most gorgeous piece of film music ever written.

[@tennoboi655]

Yes No Joke 👍

[@TheMightyPika]

Forbidden Colors is GORGEOUS

[@aaa-fv3xk]

Every time i see that last segment of the film, when Hara calls out "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence", tears well in my eye. Sakamoto's score is just so perfect in underlining those feelings of regret, wist, and mutual understanding, even if it is all in vein.

[@rebeccagozion1983]

not just tears,....i cry out loud. i love this film.

[@VuotoPneumaNN]

Remember when 2016 ended and we thought we couldn't sink any lower? HI from 2020!

[@cremetangerine82]

2016: Too many of my favorite celebrities died. 2020: Too many people died, period.

[@Glassandcandy]

@@cremetangerine82 2020 started with John prine dying and ended with MF DOOM. What a way to bookend the worst year in recent history. I will resent this year for the rest of my life.

[@cremetangerine82]

@@Glassandcandy No shit, mine stared with losing my job and ended with my father dying of COVID-19. Fuck 2020!

[@dallesamllhals9161]

@@cremetangerine82 COVID-19 killed your father!?

[@cremetangerine82]

@@dallesamllhals9161 Yes. He was 91 years old, disabled (due to a TBI during his military service), had Alzheimer’s, and was a veteran of the Korean War. It pisses me off there are plenty of people who are going maskless and refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine at this time.

[@margaesperanza]

Kyle I am so happy when you said your country is not blameless in war. I live in the Philippines where we used to have heavy American Military presence for years. In college I've interviewed so many women who were raped (and impreganted) by American soldiers but were written off as whores and prostitutes. Some of these girls were just students who were cornered by visiting soldiers, some where servers and bar maids. One girl had a public trial against her rapist but was silenced by the government with money because they knew she was dirt poor. Also a trans woman was brutally murdered by an american soldier and he was handed immediately to American custody so he could escape facing the Philippine justice system. I cant speak for my country's government, our current president basically worships hitler and the poor are basically being murdered every night. But I grew up hearing these stories that no one is really a hero in any war. Even countries who fight for their ideals of freedom, God, and justice are just as capable of horrors. The only terrible thing is how easy they can get away with it.

[@quinnnewman9538]

ULGROTHA sorry to burst your bubble but all nations are founded on blood. Yours and every bodies culture and nation is the result of millennia of war, conquer, and blood. Even the oppressed are oppressors to another.

[@void870]

In regards to Russia, Ukraine would beg to differ.

[@justdoinmything]

@@void870 it applies to all war if you choose to ignore it then by definition you're ignorant.

[@Watashiwadeus]

I mean, to say that Philippines had heavy us military presence is kinda downplaying it. From direct occupation with the scorched earth policy in the very end of 19th century and the puppet state status later.

[@DinoJake]

"They were a nation of anxious people. And they could do nothing individually. So they went mad. En masse." It's depressing just how familiar that sounds.

[@caz1764]

Coming back to this video following Ryuichi Sakamoto's death today. Incredible talent we've lost, in addition to those who've already passed. RIP.

[@Akanint]

I love that Tom Conti is Einstein in Oppenheimer and now they can be perfect companion movies.

[@WikiSorcerer]

David Bowie transcends sexual preference. Man or woman, gay or straight, we all want the man who fell to Earth within you as we dance magic dance and... uh... eh, screw it.

[@The_Lauren_Fox_Catalogue]

Aza Smith Wouldn't exactly transcend for asexuals, but us aces would collectively admire him like the beautiful marble status he was, and maybe hug him.

[@teas9892]

​@@The_Lauren_Fox_Catalogue the person said "transcends sexual preference." asexuals don't have a sexual preference. asexuals weren't the target audience of that statement.

[@The_Lauren_Fox_Catalogue]

@@teas9892 It was more of a joke than a statement, I was just adding onto it with an ace-relatable joke. We like David Bowie too. And Kyle's own statement unintentionally makes it seem like David Bowie would somehow make us suddenly feel sexual attraction. Again, I just wanted it to make it relatable to aces. Secondly, sexual preference refers to who a person prefers to have sex with, which isn't the same as sexual orientation/sexual attraction. Some aces do have sex and we can have a preference for who, we just still don't feel sexual attraction. Although for some reason it has been used interchangeably with sexual orientation. Thirdly, who's to say who isn't the target audience for a youtube comment of all things? You didn't write it. And like you said, it 'wasn't for asexuals', so I made an addition that is.

[@ConvincingPeople]

There's something really eerie about Sakamoto's score, both when it's intentionally sinister and when it's just pretty and set against such intense and unnerving imagery.

[@2hopskipjump2]

I once heard it played in a store at X'mas, having seen the film I had bizarre feelings as you described. I suppose the people who put the playlist together just thought it was a pretty tune with X'mas in the title.

[@etanaedelman9011]

Anyone else think Bowie looks like Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia here? You know slightly effeminate, blonde, British guy playing an ambiguously gay soldier?

[@CSGraves]

They both have that denobair blond aura. It's hard to shake the image of O'Toole as the chilling serial killer in Night of the Generals once you see that though! D-8

[@francoiswilliams]

He plays a South African btw...

[@sgt.miltonosiris4490]

Bowie's character wasn't gay though, ( his little brother was)

[@rebeccagozion1983]

i see what you mean...i love them both. but bowie wasnt playing a gay soldier & neither was peter o'toole in lawrence. sorry, man.

[@johncarroll772]

Nik Roeg initially wanted O' Toole to be The Man Who Fell To Earth.

[@QuintanaDS]

Excellent analysis, as usual, but I'd argue the movie is equally critical of many aspects of Western culture. We see it with Celliers' brother having his spirit crushed because of school hazing (something which Celliers let happen exactly because he didn't to lose standing amongst his colleagues), for instance, or with Lawrence constantly berating Hicksley for not understanding the mindset of their captors, for another example, or with the ending, when Lawrence tells Hara "You are the victim of men who think they are right, just as one day you and captain Yonoi believed absolutely that you were right. And the truth is, of course, that nobody is right". So yes, there's definitely criticism of the conservative, Bushido-obsessed mindset of the Japanese military of the time, but I'd argue the movie offers a more general criticism of what we nowadays call "toxic masculinity".

[@phangirlable]

I think this is in general the greatest criticism of war and what it does to every single soul involved in movie history. No one escapes unharmed, no one is "right". It's also part of Oshima's great theme of the destruction of a rigid system by human emotions and desires. I think a direct continuation was Gohatto.

[@IsabellaNC6996]

the soundtrack to this film is fucking killer

[@rebeccagozion1983]

yeah it is. & i love that he'd only star in it if he did the sound track. he's almost as beautiful as bowie.

[@kakapomax]

David sylvian

[@andersdscott5944]

": D ....... oh right...I'm sad now." A good summary of 2016 frankly.

[@MikeHunt-xj5xf]

Anders D Scott Sad? Why? Trump won the election.

[@goatwarrior3570]

2016 had it's bad moments but at least that psychotic witch Hillary didn't become president.

[@brobruh7850]

@@MikeHunt-xj5xf L

[@Lazkaroz]

Ah, I've only ever know this movie as "That movie with Ryuichi Sakamotos Music"

[@sampaiosamps9930]

This hits different in the Christmas of 2020. I stumble into the main track today. And man, one of the comments said "This sounds like an old heart break that you occasionally revisit at 2am, still hurts but you are okay with It now". It is in a way a portrait of grief and saudade.

[@yumi0306]

Yeah Ryuichi Sakamoto is a great pianist, and also a keyboardist of YMO! His composing "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" is amazing really.

[@b1merio]

5:09 Hopefully Rantasmo picks up on what you don't feel qualified to talk about. In any case, I certainly know what I'm watching tonight.

[@alfredvanzant9422]

The two of them should get together someday to talk Funeral Parade of Roses.

[@tonymarshall3978]

infamous sphere did a great review of this focussing more on LGBT themes

[@sigyn3976]

I am a massive Bowie fan, and his death was heartbreaking for me. It was the beginning of a truly terrible year, and not even the holidays could really make it better, at least for me. But, to get back on topic, this film is one of my absolute favourites. It's rather sad that more people haven't seen it.

[@ItsTheFizz]

Thanks for opening with how we all feel about 2016...

[@williambrown319]

Kind of mellow for most of us. But then again this has been a toxic, toxic year.

[@sigyn3976]

I guess 2017 is for detox then? I definitely think it's necessary after the terrible year we just had.

[@MikeHunt-xj5xf]

2019 & The World is still here, you were all wrong about Trump. If nothing else, he killed less Muslims than the former President.

[@gregorymelissinos337]

@@MikeHunt-xj5xf He killed more children than the former president.

[@davidberczel4875]

@@gregorymelissinos337 Are you sure? Obama dropped a lot of bombs on children in Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Yemen, Iraq, and Pakistan. Barry was pretty good with those Predator drone strikes.

[@alfredvanzant9422]

5:58 Not that Oshima wasn't subversive and socially critical, but so were a lot of filmmakers of his generation. From full-on New Wave directors to guys doing b-movies. Late 60s/early 70s Japanese cinema was wild.

[@nicolewu2650]

Yeah new wave cinema was wild in general, and even a lot of early 60s studio-made Japanese films (especially Kobayashi) are a lot more transgressive than many movies today, but I think Oshima was the one director credited with starting new wave in Japan in 1960. At certain times he was almost seen more as a political figure than a filmmaker.

[@SuperSupper2]

The intro to this only got more fitting as time moved on

[@mikethegrunty5968]

First 19 seconds sums up this year perfectly

[@WillShakes423]

Hello. I'm from 2020. I come with a message from the future. Those first seconds also sum up *my* year perfectly.

[@mikethegrunty5968]

Clayton Baker oh yeah.

[@ArthurCrane92]

0:00 Hey, so, that's a pretty reasonable reaction, huh?

[@jbvader721]

Arturo Garza Considering how much of a clusterf*** this year was, his reaction was justified.

[@sigyn3976]

Agreed, definitely a justified reaction.

[@quinnnewman9538]

Jessi Lyn how so? How does blind rage solve the problems last year gave us? How is it productive?

[@sigyn3976]

I am only speaking from my own personal experience. In 2016 I had thought Bowie's loss was the worst the year could get, and boy was I wrong. In addition to the complete train wreck that the election turned into, and all the violence the world saw that impacted everyone as well as myself, I personally was rear ended on the way to work one day and badly injured just because some dolt couldn't keep his eyes off his own damned reflection, and I'm still healing from that. In addition, he said it was my fault when all the evidence shows it was his and I'm at the beginning of what promises to be a very long legal battle for damages. And the icing on the cake is that after I was injured and unable to go to work, my bosses fired me, so I'm also dealing with the aftermath of that. I'm afraid you'll have to forgive me if feel like screaming in rage is justified, because I've been though a sh*t year and I'm pretty f*cking angry. But that's just my own personal feeling, I wasn't trying to shove it into anyone else.

[@sigyn3976]

Apologies, tearing things apart in rage. The screaming was my own preferred outlet.

[@redwulf1943]

If only Bowie's character was called "major Tom..."

[@sxturnx_8767]

Welp, MISSED THEIR CHANCE

[@cremetangerine82]

R. I. P. to David Bowie (Jones (8 January 1947 - 10 January 2016) and Ryuichi Sakamoto (January 17, 1952 - March 28, 2023). Another sad Christmas!

[@AspelShuyin]

I've spent the last few days binge watching your channel. Your most recent videos (particularly these last two) has been phenomenal, both in the message and in the way you tell it. You're amazing.

[@MackenzieChandlerDunnavant]

God, I can't believe this video is almost five years old. I had never heard of this movie until I saw this video, and now it's one of my favorites. As dark as this movie is, it's one of those works of art that restores my faith in humanity and my hope for a more empathetic future. A lot of the movies you've covered are among my favorites, but this one still takes the cake. Your video essays have been a massive influence on me as a writer, and helped me really appreciate Shakespeare, so I have much to thank you for already. But in particular, I can never thank you enough for bringing this film into my life.

[@ArielViera]

Kyle, thanks to you I saw this movie last Friday at NYC's Japan Society theater and I was completely blow away. It's one of the best films that I've seen and it tore every heartstring. The world needs more movies like these. Keep up the great work!

[@matt75hooper]

You need to get out more.

[@Moscato_Moscato]

KYLE!! Are you okay?!? I love you man! Stay safe mate!!

[@honeybee669]

Kyle needs a hug

[@Julia-ne3yh]

Everyone needs a hug after this year

[@quinnnewman9538]

Deebo Molina I don't know I'm kind of sick of Kyle pulling the "let's get mad at the year for not going our way" stuff and want him to return to just doing normal essays and stuff again. Yes we get it your mad at the new president, what are you gonna do about. Most dems that I know have already moved on.

[@AlexanderHarris]

Quinn Newman - Most democrats you know have moved on? What kind of liberal circles are you running in? That is most certainly not the case on a nation-wide scale. Also, while I wont disagree that we're in bitch mode at the moment, that's pretty normal for either party immediately after an election... and the four years following. I listened to conservatives bitch endlessly for eight years, now it's our turn. It's more or less an American pass time at this point. :D

[@quinnnewman9538]

Alex Harris alright I may have been a little dismissive, but I think it is terribly cliched at this point to say that 2016 was the worst year ever and that ultimately complaining does no actual good in comparison to real action

[@manegirl93416]

Do you need a hug, Kyle? *hugs*

[@MoonShadowWolfe]

Thank you for the content warning, Kyle, that's very thoughtful of you.

[@NugicusStreetPhotography]

Too bad they don't actually work when it comes to avoiding distressing imagery.

[@Infornographer]

It helps for me. Knowing what it is coming doesn't change it, but it helps me prepare for and temper my reactions. I suspect there are others like me who need a warning for this reason: not to avoid, but to prepare.

[@MoonShadowWolfe]

Yes, I'd agree with Infornographer; for me, it's much less upsetting if I'm mentally prepared. Torture is what upsets me especially; I sometimes get mild panic attacks if it's really bad, and there have been movies that made me throw up. And as bad as that is, I usually get over it faster if I know from the start that it's coming. That scene in the middle of Deadpool set me off, but I didn't have to leave the theatre and I could still enjoy the rest of it, because I'd read the comic books and I knew there would be a scene like that at least once. The thought process is less 'Oh no, oh shit, what's happening?!' and more 'Alright, you knew this might happen and you're fine, it's just pictures on a screen, be cool'. But there's nothing worse than having a torture scene sprung on me. One game reviewer put a torture scene (not a brief snippet, either, a couple of minutes long) right in the middle of his video with no preamble at all just for some lame little joke about how 'I bet you fanboys want to do this to me now,' because he said the game was bad. Well, even after the initial physical symptoms of panic, I was fucked up for days. I couldn't stop thinking about it, I couldn't sleep, it sucked. I went back to that video and pointed out that he should've at least mentioned at the beginning that there was extreme pain and suffering in this review; as you can imagine, I got dogpiled by a bunch of callous dumbasses calling me a triggered crybaby. I love gaming, but man, some gamers are fucking dicks. I never watched that reviewer again, because if his sense of humour involves surprise agony and he doesn't believe in content warning, I can't trust that idly watching his videos isn't going to leave me bowed over the toilet. Kyle, Lindsay, Diamanda and others, though, they uphold some standards of basic human decency with content warnings (in Diamanda's case, it's more of a standing content warning for her entire channel, but it still counts), and I'm not afraid to watch their stuff. It's just reasonable when you have such a wide, unrestricted audience and you don't want to accidentally ruin anyone's night.

[@forge4119]

Okay, here's my thing on trigger warnings, I think they are only necessary for things that are genuinely gruesome, such as Rape, Brutal Murder, Torture, etc. I don't think they need to be on every little goddamn thing. Telling someone that there is crass humor in a comedy show that is TV-14 or that there is gore in a War Movie is INSULTING to me. I think that people should have some the common sense or maturity to deal with small things and I personally am not going to change the joke because it offends someone. Now don't get me wrong i'm not saying there completely unnecessary, like i said if there are some genuinely gruesome stuff the by all means put in a warning but I don't think that creators should be required to do that for every little thing and i also think that people should be able to tell that a movie called "Sausage Part' has crass humor or that a movie called 'Casualties of War' has some fucked up stuff in it without someone patronizing them an telling them that.

[@BigmanDogs]

+Joseph Allan change that to "I think they are only necessary for things that *I think* are genuinely gruesome" because it displays the hypocrisy in your statement. Never display your subjective values as objectivity or above someone elses.

[@tatehildyard5332]

Yay, BHH is back. I like Shakespeare and the video essays but BHH is my favorite.

[@its-morbintime]

"Remember when he died and we all thought THAT was the worst this year could get?" Honestly - I kind of took Alan Rickman and Bowie's death within the same week (hell, depending on where you live - DAY!) to be a sort of way to say, cosmically "brace yourselves, this year is gonna fucking BLOW!" Quite honestly...no one talk to me about what happened in 2016 - I genuinely nearly went insane that year to a point where I can only now recover.

[@cremetangerine82]

Hell, I’m still not over Prince’s death.

[@bulaluigi]

I like this movie but it still kills me that this is the one Ryuichi Sakamoto and David Bowie collaboration we will ever get

[@Peringon]

As a mexican, "Heroes" by David Bowie has become my favorite song precisely because of the lyrics Kyle quotes ("I can remember, standing by the wall and the guards shot above our heads and we kissed as tho nothing could fall and the shame... the shame was on the other side".)

[@cremetangerine82]

Wow, I never though of it from that perspective, interesting.

[@MoonShadowWolfe]

I, like a lot of others after this year, have been contemplating the necessity and the heartbreaking difficulty of empathy. This has helped a lot to hear.

[@pinionatedminion38]

Thanks, man. I really appreciate your honesty in this review. Best of luck to you in the new year.

[@martinduplessis3614]

10:50 one of the best scenes in the history of cinema.

[@seanbridges3075]

0:01 how I’m gonna be when 2020 finally ends

[@daydream_ambience]

Talk about a miserable year

[@thegardenoffragileegos1845]

If you'd seen "The Man who Fell to Earth", you already knew what Bowie was capable of.

[@LrpAngel]

Damn it...you got me tearing up again...

[@EwenBell]

Seven years later, this is still a marvellous piece of analysis. Maybe more so. Thankyou, and merry christmas.

[@stefanfilipovits9221]

I needed this so badly. Thanks Kyle, happy holidays.

[@mischakachler4881]

It seems even more applicable in 2020. Nice commentary. I need to seek this film out and watch it.

[@DwRockett]

Wow, warning to all, do not enter these comments

[@NugicusStreetPhotography]

They aren't that bad as long as you click top comments.

[@ringkunmori]

DwRockett What's the issue?

[@MrJuCes]

bro you get better and better each time!

[@MattTheSpratt]

i've never seen someone so completely eviscerate a magazine before

[@galactor123]

One of the sadder bits of this is that while this is Takeshi Kitano's first dramatic role, before he became probably more famous in the West dramatically speaking for his role in Battle Royale and the like, he was a hugely popular comedian in Japan prior to this movie. This was sort of his coming out of that shell, using his deadpan and his sort of dark comedy more as foreboding than anything. Or so he thought. He loved his performance in it, was sure it was going to make him a famous dramatic performer (and in a way it ended up doing so, happy ending to it) but when he snuck into a showing of this movie he was petrified when the audience all burst out laughing when he came on screen. As said it obviously all turned out for the best, Kitano even in Japan now is famous as a renaissance man. Comedian, dramatic actor, very good in a number of Yakuza roles (There is a reason he plays a Yakuza man in the Yakuza series after all) and even director. But yeah, that always stuck with me as I couldn't even imagine doing THIS of all films, and wandering in to see an audience just so used to you in one light that they not only miss the point of your character, but miss the point of what you were trying to accomplish.

[@alluneedislessthan3]

Man I sure miss the innocence of 2016 when the worst thing that happened was losing David Bowie lol.

[@fjardim14]

Maybe the best review of Kyle's, and it led me to one of my favorite movies.

[@DoomDahlia]

Happy Holidays, Kyle. I hope you have a good one, despite everything. Same to everyone else in the comment section.

[@noahmarti6164]

Remember when we thought 2016 was the worst year

[@amandarose4469]

Watching this for 2020,about right

[@damianoakes2592]

Great review, but I'm surprised and slightly disappointed that in your point about fraternity hazing you didn't tie it to the back story with Jack's brother. Whether an oversight or an omission, it makes the review seem incomplete.

[@KyleKallgrenBHH]

Yeah, I should have made the connection more deliberate. Then again, didn't want t give away the entire film, I suppose.

[@damianoakes2592]

Hopefully more people will check this film out. I saw a clip of it on a documentary about Japanese cinema that Oshima did for the BFI. I was like, "Is that David Bowie? Kick ass!"

[@etanaedelman9011]

Knowing Bowie's real life backstory, the subplot about the brother is even more fascinating.

[@s.bakyhnh1756]

I'm definitely going to rewatch this gem

[@miblish5168]

I love this film, and watch it every Christmas. The ending carries a powerful message, and the soundtrack is exquisite. I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Oshima at a Bowie concert soon after the film was released.

[@Museofmemory]

*hugs* for the comment section.

[@jakirakumahata5701]

Coming to the end of a year that was somehow even worse than 2016, I rewatched this movie and it hit just as hard as it did then.

[@wess9900]

this episode is incredible.

[@kaguth]

Damn, you keep making videos about all the movies I wanted to make movies about.

[@ghostestwiththemostest]

Watching this a couple years later and all I have to say is Kyle, I adore you. Thank you for this.

[@eduardorivera4343]

One of My Favorite films of all time..Favorite soundtrack Beautifully haunting. Tom Conti, David Bowie and Ryuichi Sakamoto are all great here!!!

[@autumntaylor2533]

His reaction and my reaction to Bowie were the exact same

[@fattiger6957]

I completely agree with your final point. Every group that has ever and will ever exist is capable of (and, for many, have committed) terrible things. Everyone like to think of themselves and their side as the righteous heroes and their opponents as evil. But, we are all just human with the same paranoia and tribalism evolution gave us. To be better, we need to stop sticking everyone into little boxes and unite as humanity.

[@River13Sky]

I come back to this video every Christmas now...

[@polarus39]

i knew i loved this within 9 seconds. thanks kyle!

[@sataprescott7588]

I've started watching this video each year. MCML was my favorite film for a long time, initially watched as part of my long-time Bowie love. Today I'm still reeling from the reelection of Boris Johnson. The heavy depression of the world hangs over us still, and turning to art of terrible times transcended does... help. Just a little.

[@EmmaLiza]

"Any system that allows cruelty in the name of righteousness... which is all systems, really." I'm a bit too drunk to elaborate further at the moment, but uh, let's just say that line has stuck with me for several years.

[@missphoo]

Thanks for those 12 seconds at the beginning.

[@digitalviking4250]

Happy Holidays Kyle your channel consistently puts out videos that I enjoy for the discussions they lead to and the perspective you offer. When you present a perspective it feels like an invitation to those discussions, to be engaging, humorous, and inventive that consistently through the years is laudable. Thank you.

[@Morbos1000]

2016 is the end of act two, where the bad guys are winning and the good guys are at their lowest point. Next year we start act three where there is a brutal climactic battle but in the end evil is defeated. Mind you, act three will probably take several years, but we will win.

[@HannibalHanslaughter]

Morbos1000 Lets hope none of us is a dispensable side character

[@BrendanConnell]

Well said. Thank you. This was' most welcome. - Take Care, Beannacht De Duit

[@quinnnewman9538]

Hanibal Channiblo we are

[@quinnnewman9538]

Hanibal Channiblo and so are you

[@SamAronow]

Morbos1000 Perhaps it's time to accept that real life is ever continuing, and does not conform to a three-act structure. We are the ones writing our stories.

[@Bearonica]

Another great video essay. Thank you for everything this year, Kyle. Through all the pain that it brought us, your work was always a bright moment in my day. One thing I do look forward to in the future is more of your work. Have a nice holiday!

[@BriGuyIL1980]

Takeshi Kitano? From Battle Royale!? OH, GOD!!!! Beautiful review, by the way.

[@evildave42a]

Message from 4 years in the future: it gets worse.

[@sesfilmsllc]

*Laughs in 2020.*

[@jbvader721]

Laugh cries in 2020.

[@jmalmsten]

Takeshi BEAT Kitano is father christmas?! I HAVE to see it!

[@TooFatTooFurious]

To all the people, who are going to whine about how "toxic masculinity" is a harmful term to men, GOOGLE THE DEFINITION FIRST!

[@2degucitas]

Exactly. Thank You.

[@MFLimited]

People who complain about it are probably not the people who are going to look it up.

[@darastarscream]

(brohug) You're rather brilliant, Mr. Kallgren.

[@melroone2852]

That look of pure joy at 3:00

[@cremetangerine82]

Followed by crushing sadness. The world since January 10, 2016, everyone!

[@David_Diaz713]

Revisiting this because Ryuichi Sakamato passed away today. Funny how the first 10 seconds reflect my exact mood after all these years.

[@rickc2102]

Honor is one of the greatest irrationalities.

[@EKR640]

just started watching this channel and its damn good, thanks for these videos

[@aquabreeze7612]

Best. Opening. Ever.

[@The.Youtuber.with.no.Name.]

Good video but at 9:13 you conflate the Japanese adherence to honor as toxic masculinity when it is rooted in collectivism. Buddhist collectivism to be honest. To not fear death. To work and sacrifice one's self for tradition and honor. That is collectivism. Toxic masculinity does reinforces collectivism to an extent but it is not the source of why people act the way they do. It is simply a tool. The war prisoners want to escape prison because they understand individuality and want to live, because they fear death. To the Japanese, this is shameful because it breaks away from the collective and tradition. The culture clash is brought from western individualism to Japan strong collectivism attitude.

[@NugicusStreetPhotography]

Whoa whoa whoa, did you just mansplain? Nah, I'm kidding. Interesting critique.

[@Painocus]

Except the honor system of Imperial Japan wasn't collectivist, it was hierarchical and individualist. They didn't perform kamikaze for their comrades, but for the Emperor and their own personal glory. They didn't commit seppuku to restore the honor of the group, but to restore their own.

[@The.Youtuber.with.no.Name.]

Painocus Glory is an abstract collectivism spook. Their overall reasoning is irrelevant, as they are essentially killing themselves for someone else (The Emperor) and for Japan. Doing something specifically for the honor of the group is not the only way collectivism can be interpreted or used. Just as the Christian passage used in the video is collectivist (to give food to others), it still has elements of individualism. Although the difference might simply be materialism collectivism and abstract collectivism. Regardless, it is done for honor, glory, tradition, etc which are collectivist in nature and not individualistic.

[@ThaetusZain]

So wouldn't toxic masculinity be collectivist? Giving up the self to enslave yourself to a social norm? That to be a "man" (whatever that means) you need to be aggressive, cold and uncompromising?

[@ThaetusZain]

also I really doubt most people's compassion is put upon in the way Nietzche and others have said. So I don't see how taking care of others in and of itself is not necessary a collectivist endeavor. I happen to like seeing other people happy and well fed. It brings me pleasure.

[@CuteVidoll]

nice review of a beautiful movie! I life in japan (originally from germany) and I was very very moved by this movie. It felt real and honest and david bowie and ryoichi sakamoto gave great, touching performances

[@wess9900]

Nearly two years on, still, thank you. thank you.

[@sedgeflower]

I was so excited when I saw that you were discussing this film. Poignant work, thank you.

[@BloodylocksBathory]

A beautiful way to close out the year.

[@anttibjorklund1869]

And now Carrie Fisher's gone too....

[@jbvader721]

Damn 2016 to hell!!!

[@jbvader721]

Just a day after her death, her mother, Debbie Reynolds passed away too. No doubt from a broken heart.

[@patinho5589]

One of my top movies / personal Favourites. I like films with deep meaning and emotion.

[@lockerpaint2955]

I know this isn't really fair, but whenever I watch an old piece of media making fun of how bad 2016 was and then I have to go back to living my life in 2020... guys this year just sucks really, really bad. Shoutout to the pandemic, I guess.

[@Foxpawed]

The year that kept one-upping (one-downing?) itself.

[@kuma2448]

Great video. One of your best

[@ChadParenteau]

Couldn't watch this at the time of it's release because of how awful I felt toward anything related to that time. Glad I finally watched. Thanks for creating it. Seeing Rush's face knowing he's dead made me smile. Then the scene a the end with Bowie brought me back my humanity.

[@thomaswilson1016]

God DAMN IT!!! You did it again! Thank you Kyle and to you and yours a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.🎊

[@CUMBICA1970]

Funny thing Beat Takeshi wasn't the first choice to play Sgt. Hara. The role was given to Ken Ogata, but then Oshima thought Ogata looked, in his own words, too "interi" (a word derived from English intellectual.) The casting of Kitano surprised everybody because he was already arguably the biggest TV personality in Japan (appearing in about a dozen weekly TV shows on every single national network.) In an interview he revealed that he literally went on a nightmarish marathon of taping a couple of weeks worth of episodes to juggle the filming schedule with his TV duties.

[@briangonigal3974]

OK, I haven't actually watched the full video yet, but right away I can say I need someone to make a gif of the opening 12 or so seconds. It pretty much perfectly sums up my reaction to, well, EVERYTHING right now.

[@shmee123ful]

Happy holidays man

[@christiananderson4909]

Lawrence wrote a great biography of Carl Jung called "Jung, and the Story of our Time," in which he talks at length of his experience in the Japanese POW camps. Those few pages always made me skittish about watching this movie.

[@massacrereviews]

That was an excellent observation and review of a film I still watch from time time in December.