Sayonara (1957)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Joshua Logan

Writers:

James Michener (novel)
Paul Osborn (screenplay)

Release Date:

1957 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Worlds apart...theirs was the daring love affair violating every rule, every custom, every centuries-old belief!

Plot:

A US air force major in Kobe confronts his own opposition to marriages between American servicemen and Japanese women when he falls for a beautiful performer.

Plot Keywords:

American | Korean War | Military | Interracial Romance | Duty

Awards:

Won 4 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 13 nominations

Cast

Marlon Brando	...	Maj. Lloyd 'Ace' Gruver - USAF
Patricia Owens	...	Eileen Webster
Red Buttons	...	Airman Joe Kelly
Miiko Taka	...	Hana-ogi
Ricardo Montalban	...	Nakamura
Martha Scott	...	Mrs. Webster
Miyoshi Umeki	...	Katsumi
James Garner	...	Capt. Mike Bailey - USMC
Kent Smith	...	Lt. Gen. Mark Webster
Douglass Watson	...	Colonel Crawford
Reiko Kuba	...	Fumiko-San
Soo Yong	...	Teruko-san
Shochiku Kagekidan Girls Revue	...	Dancers

Runtime:

147 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved | West Germany:12 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | South Korea:15 | Sweden:15 | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Japan

Company:

Pennebaker Productions

Trivia:

The "Matsubayashi Girls Revue" stage shows in the film were performed by the Shochiku Kagekidan Girls Revue.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Maj. Gruver has dinner with Hana-ogi, he puts the dish and the chopsticks on the table twice.

Quotes:

Major Gruver: Are you gonna sit there with your bare face hangin' out and tell me you never heard of Tanabata?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Twice in a Lifetime: What She Did for Love (#1.12)" (1999)

Soundtrack:

Sayonara

Not bad for 1957

There's no doubt that this is a dated film. But there are certain advantages to that. It's definitely a film of its time, and as such is very revealing. Although some of the dialogue and characterizations (not to mention the music) inspire giggles, there's a fair amount to be admired here. I was pleasantly surprised by how frank the film is in its portrayal of institutionalized racism and its effects on the rank-and-file soldiers and the buracracy that controls their lives. Red Buttons and the woman who played his wife both won Oscars for their roles, and deservedly so. They are not the main characters of the film, but they embody the film's message and its spirit as well, and are the most naturally written characters in the movie.

Red Buttons's display of rage when his wife attempts to disguise her ethnicity is amazingly genuine and moving.

Yes, the women are portrayed in a derogatory fashion, as a previous reviewer has observed. But this was 1957, after all, and on top of that the film takes place in a military setting. Add to that the fact that Japan at that time was at least as bad as the West in its treatment of women and it's hardly a surprise that the gender dynamic is what it is. The most ironic thing, I found, was the fact that although Hollywood was comfortable casting Asian women in the film, the one speaking role by a Japanese male character (who has a subtly romantic role in relation to an American woman) was given to Ricardo Monalban. It was okay to have miscegenation portrayed with some frankness, as long as it involved Japanese women, not Japanese men. Sad,