Movie · 1957 · Drama, Romance · 2h 27m · NR · English
Curator score: 3.9/10 (14.3K ratings)
"I am not allowed to love. But I will love you if that is your desire..."
Overview
Air Force Major Lloyd Gruver is reassigned to a Japanese air base and is confronted with US racial prejudice against the Japanese people. The issue is compounded because a number of the soldiers become romantically involved with Japanese women, in defiance of US military policy. Ordinarily, a by-the-book officer, Gruver must take a position when a buddy of his, an enlisted man, Joe Kelly, falls in love with a Japanese woman, Katsumi, and marries her. Gruver risks his position by serving as best man at the wedding ceremony.
Ratings
Curator score: 3.9/10
IMDb: 7.0/10
Letterboxd: 3.28/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 82%
TMDB: 6.7/10
Director
Joshua Logan
Production
Pennebaker Productions, William Goetz Productions, Warner Bros. Pictures
Cast
Marlon Brando, Patricia Owens, James Garner, Martha Scott, Miiko Taka, Miyoshi Umeki, Red Buttons, Kent Smith, Douglass Watson, Reiko Kuba, Soo Yong, Ricardo Montalban, Dennis Hopper, Peter Brown, Kenner G. Kemp, William Meader, Ralph Moratz, Rollin Moriyama, Yvonne Peattie, Phil Rhodes
Curator Review
Verdict
An ambitious, visually polished 1950s melodrama with a genuinely unusual anti-racist stance for its era, but it is also weighed down by paternalism, cultural stereotyping, and a stately, overlong style that can feel dated now.
Best for
Classic Hollywood melodrama fans
Viewers interested in postwar U.S.-Japan tensions
People curious about early mainstream films confronting interracial romance
Fans of lush Technirama-era production design and location shooting
Skip if
You want a modern, nuanced treatment of Japanese characters and culture
You’re sensitive to outdated racial attitudes and exoticism
You prefer brisk, emotionally restrained storytelling
You dislike old-school star vehicles with heavy-handed dialogue
Overview
Sayonara is one of those studio-era films that feels both progressive and compromised at the same time. It takes a surprisingly direct stand against anti-Japanese prejudice and military racism, and for a 1957 Hollywood production that matters. The romance and the social conflict are framed with real sincerity, even if the film’s worldview remains very much filtered through a white American protagonist.
Worth noting
What makes it endure is the scale: the color, the Japanese locations, the melodramatic sweep, and the sense that the movie is trying to say something bigger than its own love story. It can be lumbering, and some performances and cultural depictions now read as dated or patronizing. But the film’s earnestness and visual polish still give it a certain force.
Bottom line
If you come to it as a historical artifact, it’s fascinating; if you come to it expecting a fully modern drama, it will likely frustrate you. The strongest material is the tension between genuine empathy and the limitations of 1950s Hollywood, which makes it more interesting than simply “good” or “bad.”
Top Letterboxd reviews
Xfaxe (2.5★) · 196 likes
I thought I was in for a great Marlon Brando performance. Instead I got a movie that has aged very bad and just felt stale…
vincemale (2.5★) · 168 likes
Soooooooooo . . . racist?
Sayonara points out the racism inherent in the attitudes of the military and the people who partake of those institutions (pro); but every aspect of Japanese culture portrayed is all lotus blossoms and tea ceremonies (con).
Ricardo Montalban portrays a Japanese kabuki performer (con); but the portrayal is about a 3 on the offensiveness scale (pro). For the record, Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's rates a 10.
It bases its view of Japan as… more
Josh Gillam (4★) · 113 likes
On release, Sayonara proved pioneering in the way it addressed interracial relationships, exploring the romance between an American major (Marlon Brando) and the Japanese woman he meets (Miiko Taka) while stationed in the country.
This is told with a progressive attitude that has by and large held up, the story filled with enormous amounts of empathy for these disenfranchised people going through the cruel (and sadly wide-spread) prejudices of that time. Brando’s audience surrogate acts as our portal into post-war Japan,… more
threepenny (2★) · 62 likes
After watching Sayonara I have a new appreciation for when Bogart said, "I can't hear their words. I miss the cues. This scratch-your-ass-and-mumble school of acting doesn't please me." After 10 minutes of incomprehensible mumbling from Brando, I finally had to turn on subtitles and try again. Worse than the mumbling is that every line is drawled out, with long pauses. I got exhausted watching him do his schtick. So much wasted time. It's a shame because there's a lot… more After watching Sayonara I have a new appreciation for when Bogart said, "I can't hear their words. I miss the cues. This scratch-your-ass-and-mumble school of acting doesn't please me." After 10 minutes of incomprehensible mumbling from Brando, I finally had to turn on subtitles and try again. Worse than the mumbling is that every line is drawled out, with long pauses. I got exhausted watching him do his schtick. So much wasted time. It's a shame because there's a lot… more
tosin (4★) · 40 likes
kelly, you never had to go that route if we’re being serious. 🙁