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Sayonara (1957)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
1957 (Japan)
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Tagline:
Worlds apart...theirs was the daring love affair violating every rule, every custom, every centuries-old belief! more
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. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Won 4 Oscars.
Another 5 wins
&
13 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(10 articles)
Ricardo Montalban: From Latin Lovers to Khan (1920-2009)
(From FilmExperience. 16 January 2009, 8:38 AM, PST)
Ricardo Montalban Dies At 88
(From Studio Briefing - Film News. 15 January 2009, 2:04 AM, PST)
(From FilmExperience. 16 January 2009, 8:38 AM, PST)
Ricardo Montalban Dies At 88
(From Studio Briefing - Film News. 15 January 2009, 2:04 AM, PST)
User Comments:
Not bad for 1957
more (23 total)
Cast
(Complete credited 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 |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
147 min
Country:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
4-Track Stereo (RCA Sound Recording)
Certification:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Also according to Turner Classic Movies, Marlon Brando insisted on playing Ace Gruver with a Southern accent, against the will of the director and producers. Brando adopted a nondescript Southern accent for Gruver, despite the objections of director Joshua Logan, who didn't think that a general's son who was West Point-educated would speak that way.
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Goofs:
Continuity: When Maj. Gruver is lying on a bent tree, we see him putting his right hand in his pocket. The next shot shows him with his both hands on his belly.
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Quotes:
Fumiko-San:
It is very bad of me! But I cannot help myself! He's so tall!
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Twice in a Lifetime: What She Did for Love (#1.12)" (1999)
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Soundtrack:
Sayonara
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This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (23 total)
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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,