The Contenders:
12 Angry Men
The Bridge on the River Kwai (winner)
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison
Peyton Place
Sayonara
Showing posts with label Sayonara. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sayonara. Show all posts
Monday, December 4, 2017
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Friday, May 27, 2016
Friday, March 6, 2015
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Sumimasen Deshita
Film: Sayonara
Format: DVD from Northern Illinois University Founders Memorial Library on laptop.
Format: DVD from Northern Illinois University Founders Memorial Library on laptop.
Hollywood has certainly been backward at times on any number of topics. One of the trickiest its had to deal with is racism. What I find interesting is how often a film that was progressive for its time comes across as incredibly backward when viewed today. Take, for instance, Sayonara. It wouldn’t be hard to argue that it was a film that genuinely helped to normalize Japanese culture in the United States, or at least de-mystify and de-romanticize it. And it deals with interracial relationships in a very real way. But it also suffers from a prominent instance of yellowface and portrays Japanese women as an extremely harmful stereotype. In some ways, the fact that a film so progressive for its time is so backward today is a testament to how far we have come.
The film takes place in 1951 at the height of the Korean War. Ace pilot Major Lloyd “Ace” Gruver (Marlon Brando) has racked up a number of MiG kills and, surprisingly, is transferred to Japan. Gruver, we learn, is the son of a 4-star general and is also romantically involved with Emily Webster (Patricia Owens), the daughter of another general. The main reason he has been moved to a desk job in Japan is because Patricia’s parents are surprising him by bringing their daughter over in the hopes that the two will marry.
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