Sayonara

One of the biggest follies of war is thinking you can station men in foreign countries and expect them not to fall in love with the local women. It’s human nature, when separated from all that you know, to gravitate towards what is readily available. Hence, when men were stationed in Japan in the years after World War II, many fell in love with and married Japanese women. The military did what they could to prevent that, but the human heart is strong, and love is one of the strongest emotions of all. Several films attempted to tackle this tricky subject, none perhaps as well known as 1957’s Sayonara.

A sticking point for this film seems to be that, despite filming heavily in Japan, director Joshua Logan claimed he couldn’t find a suitable Japanese actor to play the important role of Nakamura. It was elected instead to cast Ricardo Montalbán, a Mexican actor, and put him in heavy yellowface makeup. It’s an unfortunate choice that undermines the film’s message against racism. For his part, Ricardo is giving reverence to his performance, but it doesn’t change the fact that his casting was tone-deaf and counterproductive to the message of the film.

With that out of the way, Sayonara is otherwise a well-intentioned film about a topic that was on people’s minds in the 1950s. Americans had not forgotten the bitter war of the previous decade, and even though our military might had shifted towards Korea by this point, there was still a significant military presence in Japan, in large part due to its strategic geographical position to Korea. Anti-Japanese sentimentality was starting to soften but was not completely gone by this point, and it was frowned upon to engage in a romantic relationship with any Japanese person. In the timeline of the film, a law was being pushed to allow servicemen who married Japanese women to bring their wives with them when they relocated, but that law was not in effect just yet, so if the men were transferred, the wives were forced to stay behind. This was used as leverage to try and force the men to not marry in the first place or to separate them if they did. 

The story follows US Air Force fighter pilot Major Lloyd “Ace” Gruver (Marlon Brando), the son of an Army general, who has just been stationed at Itami Air Force Base near Kobe, Japan. This reassignment from Korea to Japan comes courtesy of General Webster (Kent Smith), the father of his fiancée, Eileen (Patricia Owens). Though Lloyd and Eileen have been together for several years, recently that relationship has become strained. 

Airman Joe Kelly (Red Buttons), Lloyd’s enlisted crew chief and good friend, has decided to marry Katsumi (Miyoshi Umeki), a Japanese woman, and wants Lloyd to be his best man. Lloyd agrees reluctantly but reminds Kelly that not only is this heavily discouraged by the military establishment, it will not be a recognized marriage because it is interracial, which is generally illegal under American law. The marriage takes place, despite all the obstacles, and Kelly settles down with his new wife.

Meanwhile, Lloyd becomes entranced with a Japanese actress, Hana-ogi (Miiko Taka), the lead performer for the all-female “Matsubayashi”, a Takarazuka-like theater company, whom he meets through Kelly and Katsumi. Soon, he too is in love and willing to lay it all on the line to marry a woman that his country doesn’t want him to marry. When the military decides to transfer all the soldiers with Japanese wives out of the country, leaving their wives behind, Kelly and Katsumi feel trapped, facing never seeing each other again. Their ultimate choice is foreshadowed but still manages to shock.

I have addressed the subject of racism in a number of reviews since this blog began more than a year ago. The topic is so prevalent in our world that films keep being made about the subject to remind us of just how stupid racism is. Most of these films deal with African Americans and the racism that exists in America between the whites and the blacks. But Japanese/American racism, while not as prevalent anymore, was just as bitter at one point, and a film addressing that from this point of view is refreshing, while equally frustrating to see these feelings on display. 

The film was based on James A. Michener’s 1954 novel of the same name, which faced criticism for being overbearing in its attack on racial injustice. This is softened a little in the film, but make no mistake, this is a message film, and it makes that message loud and clear. At times, it can be preachy, moralizing, and obvious. But then again, racism should be an obvious target for derision, and we should be looking at those who perpetrate it as out of touch with reality. 

Seeing Kelly and Katsumi together, it is obvious just how much these two are in love. This is a believable relationship made so by the remarkable performance by Red Buttons, who is debuting here despite a few minor roles previously. Red Buttons joins the ranks of the few who have won Oscars for their debut performance, and it is well deserved. Joining him in that honor is Miyoshi Umeki, his on-screen wife, who is his equal in every way.

In every scene, he is outshining the more muted and less engaging Marlon Brando. Marlon is so aloof for much of this film that it is hard to buy into his romance with Hana-ogi. This is a problem that never gets better as the film goes on, even when we are supposed to believe he is willing to jeopardize everything to marry her.  Marlon’s choice to give his character a Southern accent is a head-scratcher, too, feeling out of place for a career officer schooled and trained at West Point. Reportedly, Marlon and director Joshua Logan clashed on set over some of the acting choices Brando made during filming, and that shows on screen.

This is a film that has a lot of good messaging to it but cannot quite strip itself of the heavy-handedness of the original novel. That, coupled with some very questionable production choices, really ages this film when it needed to have a timeless quality to it. It’s not a bad film by any means, but there is a sense of missed opportunities when watching it. Still, so much of it is well made, and it really showcases Japanese culture well, especially the theater arts. This is a solid film, just not quite a stellar one. 

Academy Award Nominations:

Best Picture: William Goetz

Best Director: Joshua Logan

Best Actor: Marlon Brando

Best Supporting Actor: Red Buttons (won)

Best Supporting Actress: Miyoshi Umeki (won)

Best Adapted Screenplay: Paul Osborn

Best Art Direction: Ted Haworth and Robert Priestley (won)

Best Cinematography: Ellsworth Fredricks

Best Film Editing: Arthur P. Schmidt and Philip W. Anderson

Best Sound: George Groves (won)

____________________________________________________

Release Date: December 25, 1957

Running Time: 147 Minutes

Not Rated

Starring: Marlon Brando, Patricia Owens, Red Buttons, Ricardo Montalbán, Martha Scott, Miyoshi Umeki, James Garner, and Miiko Taka

Directed by: Joshua Logan