Sayonara

It evokes thoughts of something from Madame Bovary (Gustave Flaubert), or Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy). That is to say, the scene portrays something vital about the human experience. At least it does for me; but then, I admit I'm a sucker for stories of love between American men and Asian women.

The scene to which I refer is when Lloyd Gruver (Marlon Brando) encounters Hana-ogi in Joe Kelly's (Red Buttons) house. It begins when he opens the sliding door and sees her kneeling, erect, serene, and dignified, waiting for him to arrive. If not on the first watching, then on the second, fourth, or eleventh watching, one will become aware that the lighting, the sound, the furnishings of the room, her hair, her kimonos, her makeup (especially her painted lips) are all perfect. What an ambiance! What a setting for a man and a woman to fall in love!

Gruver is immediately struck by her presence; this is plain to see. Nevertheless, he recovers his usual demeanor and proceeds to try to make small talk, his mind and body regarding this lovely creature with respect and admiration, but also lust. She just sits there, regarding him without moving, without even blinking, betraying no thoughts or emotions. His discomfort rises.

Then, when it is time and not before, she begins to speak. She speaks word of deep humanity, compassion, wisdom, and sincerity. The power of her words is greatly enhanced by the quiet dignity with which she speaks them. Gruver is dumbfounded, and Brando plays this role very well. You can see on his face (Flaubert or Tolstoy would have painted the picture with words) that his life, unexpectedly, has just been bifurcated. There is now the life before this encounter, and what will come after. He can never again be the same man. He can never again regard women the same. Hana-ogi is a new paradigm, and his lust, far from being extinguished, has maybe even been elevated, but is now part of an ethereal, not just corporeal experience. He never looked for such a thing before, because he never imagined such a woman or such a feeling could exist.

This scene is for me the climax of the film, and if the story ended there, it would be satisfyingly complete. The purpose of the rest of the story is to set the table for this connection between two immortal souls. Nevertheless, what goes before, and what ensues is still interesting and worthwhile.

Some people continue to insist such love themes are racist. That is absurd. It is the antithesis of racism. This is the profoundest love flourishing in spite of different races and cultures, and the inevitable perils incumbent with this relationship in this place at this time. This is love between a man and a woman, as unfettered by affectations and expectations as love can be. This is the raw, real thing.

Your humble correspondent was raised as far from the Enchantment of the East as one can get, and like the protagonists of this story had no expectation of being enchanted when I first traveled there. But, through experience, I can attest the irrepressible bond this film portrays between the lovers is real, and is not exaggerated. Also, the perils are real, although nowadays not the same ones.

I have been in love in Japan, China, and Southeast Asia-married once among these encounters. When a man knows love in the East, he may also know tragedy, but he'll know he's alive. This film tells this tale, exquisitely done.


I love this film   May 10, 2004
Benjamin Wilkerson (prescott,az.)
I`ve seen this movie many times on cable and am always charmed by it.The delightful way the japanese women talk and Brando`s southern accent and dialogue is both charming and funny.James Garner and Red Buttons both give great supporting performances.This film will make you laugh and tug at your heartstrings.Recommended.


Happy Ending, Tragedy   January 17, 2004
Nicholas Stix (New York City/Queens)
4 1/2 stars

Shakespeare's rule - "happy ending, comedy; unhappy ending, tragedy" - does not apply to Sayonara. It is one of the saddest movies I've ever seen.

Set in Japan in 1951, towards the end of the U.S. occupation, and during the Korean War, Sayonara tells of American men thousands of miles away from home, and the forbidden Japanese women they meet, and fall in love with.

At the time, servicemen were forbidden from fraternizing with Japanese women, but like the song says, "If you can't be/With the one you love/Well, then, love the one you're with." And in all fairness, many a G.I. met the love of his life while in uniform on foreign soil.

The story sets up a parallel between two rigidly hierarchical, intolerant societies: The U.S. Army and Japan.

Marlon Brando plays Maj. Lloyd "Ace" Gruver, the reigning ace and golden boy of the Army Air Force. "Ace" is the son of a four-star general, and destined himself for general officer status, as long as he plays by the rules. Gruver is an amiably racist Southerner whose world is about to be turned upside down. (One glaring historical error in Sayonara, is its making Gruver a flier in the Army Air Force. The Army Air Force ceased to exist in 1947, when it became the fully independent branch, the U.S. Air Force. The error may have been deliberate, since a brand, spanking new service branch could not be depicted as bound to tradition.)

Gruver is confronted with racial conflict through one of his men, Airman Joe "Red" Kelly (played by carrot-topped Jew, Red Buttons). Red asks Gruver, his C.O., to witness his marriage. Gruver does not seek to hide his racism, and as per Army regulations, seeks to talk Kelly out of the union. He emphasizes that Kelly will not be able to take his wife stateside with him, should he be assigned to return home. Kelly says he will never leave the woman he loves, and demands and receives an apology from the officer. This scene is designed to set up the conflict to come, and to show Gruver's profound decency, and the loyalty he feels to his men. In Japan, Gruver witnesses the wedding, and even kisses the bride.

Japan is a traditional society and Gruver, the product of Army tradition, is himself locked in a semi-arranged marriage to a three-star general's daughter, a wonderful, intelligent, beautiful young woman ("Eileen Webster," played by Patricia Owens). But is he really in love with her?

Gruver becomes smitten with Japan's most famous musical actress, "Hana-ogi" (Miiko Taka), and pursues her. Meanwhile, his fiance becomes attracted to the country's greatest kabuki actor ("Nakamura," played by Ricardo Montalban, an Hispanic; imagine the reaction by Asian ethnic hustlers to such casting today!).

Meanwhile, a racist colonel decides to make the lives of soldiers who have fallen in love with Japanese girls a living hell.

Sayonara was up for a heap of Oscars, but only won two. It lost out on most of the awards, because it was up against The Bridge on the River Kwai, another movie about the collision of Japan and the West, which happened to be one of the greatest movies ever made. The two Oscars Sayonara did win, went to Red Buttons and Miyeshi Umeki (as Red Kelly's Japanese bride, "Katsumi"), as Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress, respectively. As moving as these two performers were, I'm not sure Buttons deserved the award over Sessue Hayakawa's performance as Col. Saito in Kwai. However, without giving away too much, the circumstances of Buttons and Umeki's performances won them their Oscars, just as much as their performances did.

Sayonara is filled out by a congenial performance by a young James Garner, as Marine Corps "Capt. Mike Bailey," who befriends Gruver, and workmanlike performances by Martha Scott and Kent Smith as Gruver's prospective mother-in-law and her spineless husband, and Douglass Watson as the racist colonel, respectively. While modestly effective in her more intimate scenes, Miiko Taka performs with much more self-assurance in her musical stage numbers.

In 1957, Marlon Brando was on top of the world. Having not yet suffered the egotistical meltdown that would make him both personally and professionally unreliable for the rest of his career (see Apocalypse Now, etc.), at the time he could play anything but Shakespeare.

There is clearly a liberal message here: We can triumph over racism, if we can reach through to the core decency of people who were raised in a racist culture. And I believe that Sayonara went too easy on the Japanese, who at their best were as racist as we were, at our worst.

Either you will feel bullied by Sayonara's underlying liberal pieties, or it will break your heart. It broke mine.

P.S. The barebones DVD contains only the 1957 theatrical trailer.

Originally published on November 29, 2003, in The Critical Critic.


The movie is a 5 star CLASSIC - this DVD is 3 stars !!   June 9, 2003
forrie (Nashua, NH United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

This review is mainly about this DVD presentation. The movie is an outstanding 1950's Hollywood Classic Film dealing with bigotry, cuturial hatred & inter-racial marriages of the Post War Japan between U.S. military men & Japanese women. This movie does "James A. Mitchners - Novel - Sayonara" a respectable transition to the big Screen. The movie is worth the price of admission alone!!!!

Unfortunately - MGM did this WideScreen Technicolor 147 minute classic movie a disservice when transferring it to a digital format!! First of all the true WideScreen is reduced to 4:3 Letterbox format. (this is a inferior True letter box picture -horizontal black bars on 4:3 tvs & horizontal & vertical black bars on WideScreen 16:9 HDTV's (postage stanp size)). Also by not being digitally enhanced for real WideScreen HDTV your Technicolor Pallet of vivid color is reduced to washed out presentation. A real shame because the Japanese ornate costumes, lavish Landscapes & exotic botanical gardens colors are lost. Also the only extra feature is a trailer.

Again, "Sayonara" is an outstanding 5 star movie with an allstar cast starring Marlon Brando, James Garner & Red Buttons. At the very least rent this Hollywood Classic it is worth the viewing. I hope MGM re-releases this film at a later date with all the extras to justify this films cinematic value & beauty. Enjoy.