- Awesome Music: The film was the first major scoring project by Yellow Magic Orchestra member Ryuichi Sakamoto, and as such it's chock-full of incredible pieces by him. Sakamoto in fact was so anxious about his performance as one of the film's leads (having never done any prior acting work) that he filled the movie with sweeping musical cues to try and cover up what he felt was a mediocre performance; regardless of one's opinion on Sakamoto's acting in the film, it's hard to deny that he succeeded at making an astounding and memorable soundtrack. A few particular standout tracks are as follows:
- The main theme
, which shares the title of the film. A vocal version, featuring David Sylvian, is known as "Forbidden Colours". Both musicians have released new recordings of both versions of this song over the 30 years since the song was originally released, and it is a perennial feature of Sakamoto's live performances. - "Sowing the Seed", which plays as Celliers saves the life of Hicksley by stepping in and kissing Yonoi, who gets so overrun by his conflicted feelings that he gets paralyzed. Equally compelling are its two other variants: "The Seed and the Sower", which plays during Cellier's attempt to escape the prison camp, and "The Seed", which plays as Yonoi gives his final goodbye to Celliers as the latter dies. In all three cases, the connecting leitmotif brilliantly highlights the intensity of Yonoi's conflicted feelings for Celliers, someone he loves as much as he despises.
- The main theme
- Broken Base: Two versions of the film exist: one with subtitles for the Japanese dialogue (of which there is a large amount— almost as much as there is English dialogue) and one without. The question is, which is better? Arguments in favor of watching it with subtitles posit that a good deal of important expository details are only given away in the Japanese dialogue, and that subtitles aid the delivery of this information for audiences not already fluent in Japanese. Arguments in favor of watching without subtitles claim that the experience offers a greater sense of immersion, as viewers not fluent in Japanese will be just as lost as the British prisoners, having to rely on what limited information is conveyed by both Lawrence and the small moments where the guards speak in English. The fact that the film slowly uses more and more English dialogue for the guards also furthers the argument, as it corresponds with the strengthening ties between them and the prisoners over the course of the plot.
- Heartwarming Moments:
- The "Father Christmas" scene, in which Hara orders for Celliers and Lawrence to be released from execution. It's even sweeter because Hara is incredibly drunk, and is laughing merrily the whole scene through. The others' touched and slightly bewildered reactions fall into this too.
- A meta example comes with this performance of the main theme on KCRW Radio, shortly after David Bowie had passed away. Sakamoto had been discussing the good times he had with Bowie on the film's set before playing the song in tribute of him.
- I Am Not Shazam:
- People who are not familiar with the film tend to assume that Bowie's character is named Mr. Lawrence. Lawrence is actually Tom Conti's character.
- A common title for the film in Europe is Furyo. Many people assume someone is called "Furyo" in it, while it's actually the Japanese word for "prisoner of war".
- Moment of Awesome: Celliers kissing Yonoi at the assembly, saving Hicksley's life.
- Nightmare Fuel: The scene with Kanemoto being forced to commit seppuku, followed by de Jong committing suicide by biting off and swallowing his tongue. Way to ram home just whose side you're supposed to be on in this film.
- Celliers' blue, rotted face after having been executed via burial.
- Protagonist Title Fallacy: There's often confusion as to who "Mr. Lawrence" is. It's Tom Conti's character and not David Bowie's (whose character is named Celliers).
- Squick: Hara's description of the incident with de Jong and Kanemoto falls into this category.
- Tear Jerker: The epilogue, taking place four years after the events of the film. Hara has been imprisoned for war crimes. The night before his execution, Lawrence, now free again, comes to visit him. The whole scene is both sweet and very sad. Especially in Lawrence's case. He may have survived as one of the winners, but that also means that he loses someone he has become quite close with. The heartbroken look on his face after he bids farewell, clearly on the verge of tears, really does it.Lawrence: There are times in which victory is very hard to take.
- The Woobie:
- Celliers's little brother, a talented singer who is often bullied. His spirits were crushed by brutal mockery during his initiation ceremony at school. As a result, he never sings again. The worst part is that his older brother, whom he looked up to, didn't do a thing to help him even though he had the power to spare him the ritual.
- Karel De Jong doesn't have it easy, to say the least. First it is strongly implied that the sexual relationship he had with Kanemoto was not consensual. On top of that he is brutally punished for it by the guards. These events leave him traumatised and even make him a target of mockery by his fellow prisoners. Later he is forced to watch Kanemoto commit sepukku. This upsets him so much that he bites of his own tongue, leading to a horrific death by choking on his own blood
