Sayonara

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Starring: Marlon Brando
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Type: DVD
Directed By: Joshua Logan
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Release Date: 2001-09-18
Running Time: 147 minutes
Two u.S. Airmen stationed in japan defy military regulations and cultural taboos when they fall in love with local women. Studio: Tcfhe/mgm Release Date: 01/25/2005 Starring: Marlon Brando Red Buttons Run time: 147 minutes Rating: Nr

Sayonra
This is a wonderful older film, Marlon Brando is stationed in Japan and falls in love with a Japanese woman. Very well acted...teary scenes, but very enjoyable.

A sensitive and 5 hanky movie
So much has been reviewed about this movie so I will just put my two cents in about the performances I loved. Marlon Brando....skillfully underplayed role. When I first saw the movie as a kid, I wasn't sure if he would be a sympathetic character or not. He's wonderful. Ricardo Montalban...one of the most under-rated actors ever. I remember reading a long time ago that when he danced on the Kabuki stage, the audience was not aware that it was Mr. Montalban performing ontage. Although one does wonder why a Japanese actor (like James Shigeta) was not given the role, I loved him in this. Red Buttons and Miyoshi Umeki...this is where the 5 hankies come in. I'm not sure if Japanese people thought her character was a stereotype or not...I will only say that I enjoyed her portrayal. She was so obviously in love with her 'Joe'. And Red Buttons...steadfast, unmovable in his decision to love this woman. What a sin that racism still rears its ugly head in 2008. Let us hope that thoughtful movies like this one will continue to be made.

Touching, Well-Written, Beautifully Played
"Sayonara" could have been an overly sentimentalized mix of predictable lectures on the evils of prejudice and the legacy of war, but its very fine performances, attractive stars, generally well-written script, and lush production save it from these traps and offer up a deeply romantic and affecting film experience. There are a few nits to pick here, notably the casting of Ricardo Montalban as a legendary Japanese NOH actor, and a couple of overly cardboard-evil military bureaucrats, but these don't too adversely affect the overall high quality of the film.

Based on yet another of James Michener's "exotic location travelogue" novels, Sayonara examines interracial love between members of formerly warring countries (Japan and the United States), in the post-WWII, post-Korean conflict era (the film was released in 1957). Marlon Brando, in a wonderful performance (I beg to differ on this point from the many reviews below), plays Major Lloyd "Ace" Gruver, a career Air Force man from a distinguished military family. Already heavily honored for his work in WWII and the Korean conflict, Ace travels to Japan for some R&R. His good friend and colleague, Airman Joe Kelly (Red Buttons, who won a Best Supporting Oscar for this role), has already put down roots there after meeting and falling deeply in love with a gentle young Japanese girl named Katsumi (exquisitely played by Miyoshi Umeki). Kelly, something of a blunt-speaking rebel who doesn't come from the class and money that Ace comes from, wants to marry Katsumi and settle down in Japan, and is running into heavy opposition from Air Force brass.

Ace, as Kelly's superior officer, feels obligated to support the military's position here, and does his best to dissuade Kelly from marriage to a Japanese girl. Ace fails, but he both likes and respects Kelly, and when he sees Kelly is determined to go through with the marriage, Ace agrees to serve as his best man - after Kelly finally manages to jump through all the hoops the military and the government throw up to prevent such marriages from occurring (and those hoops are a matter of historical record). After Ace meets the lovely Katsumi at the dismally brusque little civil service, and comes to dinner at Kelly and Katsumi's little home by the canal, Kelly's brimming happiness dissolves Ace's remaining doubts about the marriage.

Ace himself has been engaged for years to the patrician Eileen Webster (Patricia Owens, who ended up in another classic as the wife of the ill-fated scientist in the original, "The Fly"), daughter of Lt. Gen. Mark Webster, and, therefore, from a family very much like Ace's own. Hearing of Ace's stay in Tokyo, Eileen's father has brought over his wife and daughter so Eileen and Ace can spend some time together. They appear to be ideally suited to each other, but Eileen, who is a refreshingly strongly written female character for the 1950s, is not too happy at Ace's tame acceptance of their long engagement, and his lack of urgency about getting married - from these she senses something is missing in their relationship on Ace's side. Ace brushes off her doubts, reminding her that as members of a somewhat privileged class, they have duties and responsibilities to fulfill before they can suit themselves, and with this Eileen has to be satisfied.

Kelly and Katsumi begin showing Ace around post-war Tokyo, and one evening Ace sees the performance of one of Japan's best-known stage personalities, Hana-ogi, star of the prestigious Matsubayashi School; the school trains girls in singing, dancing, and acting for the stage, and they are strictly prohibited from dating and socializing outside the school (let alone with members of the American military). The Matsubayashi girls are sort of theatrical vestal virgins, dedicated first to the life of the stage, and then to teaching the next generation, and, after the manner of the unattainable, exert a particular pull on the imaginations of the men in the US military occupying Japan.

For Ace, it is love at first sight. Throwing caution to the winds and ignoring everything he knows about the barriers to such a relationship, Ace begins to pursue the frosty, off-limits Hana-ogi (nicely played by Miiko Taka, who, similar to actor James Shigeta, was actually an American-born "nisei" from Hawaii who had to learn the Japanese accent for the role). Hana-ogi has a passing friendship with Kelly's wife, Katsumi. To the amazement of all, Ace's dogged pursuit, and the whispers of Katsumi to her friend that the American is neither a boor nor a bigot, eventually melt the coldly unattainable Hana-ogi, and the besotted Ace soon finds himself in exactly the position for which he once lectured Kelly.

It isn't long before word of Ace's affair with Hana-Ogi gets out, and because of Ace's family history and higher rank, it generates even greater horror in the military than did Kelly's affair with Katsumi. Eileen is humiliated and devastated as she realizes that she was right: Ace's feelings for her lacked a basic passionate gestalt, something that the Japanese performer has aroused in him without effort. Her family is furious and mortified, and Ace goes from being the Fair-Haired Boy of the Air Force to its outcast.

From this point on, the film follows the difficult course of the two parallel Japanese/American relationships, for Kelly suddenly finds himself once again struggling with bureaucratic interference: despite the seeming finality of his marriage to Katsumi, he is still a career Air Force man, and is recalled home by the military - without his wife. His despair at the prospect of separation precipitates the film's most moving segment. Kelly's and Katsumi's fate also serves as the tie-break in Ace's conflict between his duty and his heart, and sets up the conclusion of the film.

The film is explicit about the brutal lengths to which the American military and government went during the occupation to stop G.I.s who wished to marry Japanese women from doing so; nor does it shy away from exposing the cultural prejudices held by the Japanese (all Westerners are barbarians), and some of the less attractive aspects of traditional Japanese culture: Hana-ogi got into the Matsubayashi school because her poverty-stricken parents sold her, presumably as a future courtesan, but the people who bought her saw her special quality and instead sent her to the school. Thus, Hana-ogi is also bound by duties and obligations and personal debt that she cannot violate without incurring dishonor.

The performances, starting with Brando's very sympathetic and nuanced portrait of Ace Gruver, are note-perfect - and that includes Brando's southern accent, which did not strike this reviewer as either "over the top" or out of place - the south produced many distinguished military families. Red Buttons richly earned his Best Supporting Oscar as the passionately devoted Kelly, and James Garner adds his own unique quality in a supporting role as a Marine also trying to navigate a relationship with a Matsubayashi dancer. Ricardo Montalban gives a remarkably dignified performace as Nakamura, considering the absurdity of his casting in the role, and Patricia Owens gives the unfortunate Eileen depth and character. Miyoshi Umeki and Miiko Taka are convincing and affecting as Katsumi and Hana-ogi (considering that they, too, are inhabiting something of a stereotyped, idealized image of Asian women). Joshua Logan, who was also Michener's collaborator on the film version of "South Pacific", did a superb job bringing the locations and story to life, and Franz Waxman composed the evocative score. The cinematography is beautiful.

This is not the deepest film about interracial prejudice and military stupidity that has ever been made: it is a bit too "picturesque" for that. But it is a thoroughly satisfying and beautifully made one. Thus, despite its length (two and a half hours), and at least one highly questionable casting issue, its powerful story, moving performances, and potent atmosphere have the uncanny ability to hook and keep the viewer emotionally engaged throughout. Repeat viewings for the sheer experience of the film are likely.

Very well done...
...a very enjoyable movie.Although Brando's southern accent is a bit overplayed, it's not a drag on the rest of the movie. This movie explores very well the contrast between living your life according to imposed expectations as opposed to living the life you actually want to, as all characters here experience this in rather profound ways.

A very worthwhile movie, on that you'll watch more than once..

Sayonara Forever!
What a superb cast! Great sets, cinematography, outstanding musical score, superb message! A film to be archived as a window into our culture and theirs. The smug policies of early occupation days is clearly demonstrated here. The absolute beauty of Japan and it's women is clearly seen. This film makes you want to jump into the screen and feel what Marlon Brando must have felt in the arms of his darling love. Red Buttons was so good in this film that there's no wonder how he got the Oscar! My only complaint would be a Hispanic man (Richardo) playing a Japanese kibuke dancer. That silly error detracts from the rest of this wonderful film. Remember "The Courtship of Eddy's Father?" look for his irresistable housekeeper in an Oscar nominated role here. She recently passed into Gods hands. Bless you forever Miss Miyoshi Umeki!!!!