"Nagisa Oshima will probably be remembered best for his groundbreaking and beautiful hardcore film In the Realm of the Senses, but this is a wonderful one. Breathtakingly shot, with a fantastic, memorable score, and great performances by David Bowie, Tom Conti, and “Beat” Takeshi Kitano."

"Number two is Fireworks by Takeshi Kitano. I remember when I saw it, I love the way he marries in that movie… it’s emotional and impressionistic but it still has these amazing outbursts of violence. I can’t think of a single movie [like it] that goes from, in one instance, being very delicate and poetic, to being almost obscenely violent. I think he’s remarkable."

"A story about compassion and forgiveness set in a World War II Japanese prison camp, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence seems to improve with age and repeated viewings. The screenplay, by Nagisa Oshima and Paul Mayersberg, based on a book by Laurens van der Post, is oblique, brutal, poignant. Tom Conti, David Bowie, and Takeshi Kitano all give first-rate performances, and Ryuichi Sakamoto’s score is heartbreaking. The last five minutes never fail to destroy me"