extremely irritating in many ways...

Yeah, it was filmed there, but it's still full of Japanese clichees. Heck, read the review Jeff Hill left on the main page. He's lived there 31 years, and he found it to be full of clichees.

And Ricardo Montaban as a Japanese Kabuki actor? That was a bit goofy. And Seattle born Miko Taka (real name Betty) as Brando's love interest? I could do a better Japanese accent than she did!

I think that's what the poster meant by "the fake Japan".

“I always tell the truth…even when I lie” - Scarface

Actually, the Officers' Club where they dined and some of the garden scenes were filmed at a Japanese restaurant in Beverly Hills.

I would have enjoyed the film more if it were not for Brando's irritatingly phony and inconsistent accent which often made what he was saying totally incomprehensible.

I was also irritated by the reviews: The most moving scene in the film was the discovery of Buttons's and Umeki's double suicide; the most underrated performance was tied between Patricia Owens's [so often done in her case] and Ricardo Montalban's, especially in his Kabuki scenes.

The Irving Berlin pop addition to the film -- the song "Sayonara" -- was a giant mistake, and to repeat it to continuously and annoyingly -- to the point of having Umeki's character hum it through the beginning of one of her scenes -- is another annoyance.

By the way, did Miiko Taka do her own singing in this film?

[deleted]

I felt the same way about how the men treated the women. It definitely played into the stereotype of the demure Asian woman servicing the man's every need. Maybe that was part of the culture at the time, but as a modern American woman it annoyed me. Especially when Red Buttons said "ah, this is the life" as he was being waited on hand and foot. Do you want a wife who is an equal or a passive servant? The other part that got me was the way the men manhandled the women, like the scene with Kelly and his wife regarding the eye surgery when he threw her to the ground. Yeah, not cool. Still, overall a great movie in spite of these flaws.

1. I did not find what Kelly did in that scene to be necessarily out of character. When I watched that scene, I saw someone who was very much in love with his new (Japanese) wife, and was trying to incorporate some of the Japanese ways into his life out of his love for her. So that scene did not bother me at all.

2. I agree with you about Gruver and Kelly both treating their women like garbage... at times. But, you have to remember that this was back in the 1950s, and that type of attitude toward women, particularly Asian women, was not uncommon at that time. I'm not saying that it's right, just that it wasn't unusual at the time.

i was like "meh, at least the weeaboo is Marlon Brando," but once he mentioned beer & pretzels i was like "ARE YOU FOR *beep* REAL?" i think i actually shouted something like that at the bath scene, too.

I'm not going to argue your general objection. Even though I have a soft spot for it, there are a great deal of moments in Sayonara that make me cringe and raise and eyebrow (I wanted to rewrite every one of Hana Ogi's lines!!!!). I do, however, think it's extremely important, if you're going to get ANY enjoyment out of it, to consider this film within its own context; as a product of 1950's Hollywood.
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"1. When Brando goes to dinner at Kelly and Katsumi's, Kelly goes out of character and the script shoves points of Japanese culture down our throat: shoes off in a Japanese house, arm rest, how to drink sake, how to rinse the sake cup, blah blah blah."
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Understanding that this is a Hollywood film from 1957 concerning aspects of a foreign culture, I wasn't the least bit surprised to encounter these bits of exposition. Though extremely self-conscious, almost counter-productively so, producers of mainstream faire had and have little faith in simply showing, so they feel they must show AND tell (you know, because people are stupid :). To an extent, this is still practiced in mainstream films, but even the more recent "The Last Samurai" takes a lighter more natural approach in sharing cultural information without exposition per se. Also consider that Sayonara was made only a decade after WWII, with racial resentments still simmering on both sides. Sayonara stands as a kind of broad aesthetic tourism (engendering an analogous sympathy for both its japanese and American characters), laying the foundation for a renewed interest in Japanese cultural practices, maybe even inspiring travel at a time where bonds seemed tenuous.

Though Japan is treated with a certain exoticism, taking that stance was probably helpful in some ways to the larger culturally un-learned american audience. Because Brando is shown as feeling at odds with his encounters (though indeed also uneasy at the context of his being assigned there, and the obviously weakening bond between him and Eileen) the situation was relatable. Some people were learning all those things about Japan for the every first time. No internet back then! In all fairness, it actually seemed that the filmmakers made sure not to exoticize Japan beyond the point to which Brando's "fish out of water" premise could be carried (ie; no sharp angles, no jarring montages, no hyper-saturation of colors, no gestures o fthe camera or editing to suggest a heavy disorientation.) As a whole, the cinematography was gorgeous and restrained, often utilizing stationary compositions. The framings that captured the tea ceremony, Kabuki, and Bunraku theater are calm, exquisite, and sensitive, and bear a strong Japanese aesthetic sensibility. I say credit where credit is due!

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2. Both Brando and Kelly treat their women like garbage! Kelly sits in the tub while Katsumi washes him and he barks "lower! lower!" and then he just sits there while she cooks and brings him warm towels and shuffles around on her knees.
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Again, this film was made in the 1950's. Men came home from the war, got their wives out of the factories and back in the home, and things resumed their pre-war routine (save for the rampant expansion of the suburbs). Though many powerful and complex women had been depicted in film well before the 50's and ever more after, the mainstream held to the majority ideal of a male dominated society. As for the scrubbing of Kelly by Katsumi, that was not an uncommon practice (but especially not for a wife like Katsumi who is obviously quite traditional). Shuffling around on their knees... well, thats just what they do in a traditional japanese house with Tatami matt floors. The architecture of such hoses is fragile and obligates movements to be metered and composed. (Modern japanese homes, im assuming as early as the 70's, are much closer to american style). The bowing and kneeling is cultural, partly to show deference (not just to men, but especially to guests of your own household), which is an ingrained capacity. Even their language has an instilled apologetic, even sidestepping nature. This is something shared with the military, for it is rigidly hierarchical and infused with a language of codes and gestures to express deference to upper ranks.

Though Japanese and American women have both made leaps and bounds in terms of equal rights and social standing since then (as well as their depictions in film), Japan of the 1950's was still a strongly male dominated society, garnering very similar gender assignments as America, particularly in the south. In a way, that was the easiest thing for Brando to accept. Japan presented a hierarchical standard, though unfamiliarly formalized and stylized to his eyes, that he understood in its basic sense. He is wholly a product of his upbringing and environment (though lets give him some credit for the process of self-reevaluation he makes over time, how in the end he stands up for Kelly's choices, and ultimately for the gesture of casting off the constraint and expectation of the military by marrying a non-white non-american woman. Sayonara chose its core ideological objection to be that of institutional racism, and its chief existential ideal to be that of breaking the mould of expectation built around individuals in terms of institutional structures; military, career. Unfortunately, it leaves much to be desired in the ways of an objection to gender roles within society).

The character of Nakamura, and his subtle courtship of Eileen is a fantastic counter to the misogyny of the american soldiers. If the role had been occupied by a Japanese man (not Ricardo Montalban, who rightfully does a wonderful job... especially in his efforts of pronunciation and accent) it would have had a grand impact, and carried so much more weight.

So yes, there is a notable tone of patriarchy (misogyny seems far too strong a term) that runs through most of this film, but I dont see it as something necessarily un-reflective of its time and place; that is to say, I see it as fitting into the specific contexts of the narrative and characters. If anything, i find Sayonara all the more interesting for that fact. It encapsulates a kind of attitudinal history for me (even if i strongly disagree with it).

Anywho, just some things I was thinking. I just watched it again recently and my objections seem to increase with each viewing, even though there is much in it that i love. I wish I could remake it and offer each character a more rounded, nuanced opportunity to express their natures and desires. I'd make a film that shows rather than tells, and that offers more to its women than a role of deference to men.

"I'd hate to take a bite out of you. You're a cookie full of arsenic."

"Brando and Kelly treat their women like garbage.." This was early 1950's Japan, what did you expect, a bra-burning Gloria Steinman. Up until the American occupation women in Japan (and most of Asia) were one step above (or below) cattle.

It is a little too sentimental, but I don't find it "'irritating", except Brando bumping his head so much in the doorway. We DO need "more such movies" like it today.

"I can understand it, but I don't like it none!"--Cheyenne.

Brando was god awful in this film.....his accent was so distracting

watch Last Tango In Paris, that's a much better love story and an A+ Brando performance

Prejudice for doing a horrible accent lol. And, Charles Laughton would have won if Alec Guinness didn't