Drama,Romance
United States of America
Sayonara is a 1957 American drama film directed by Joshua Logan and based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Sayonara by James Michener. The film stars Marlon Brando, Red Buttons, Miyoshi Umeki, James Garner, and Ricardo Montalbán. It tells the story of a US Air Force officer who falls in love with a Japanese woman and is faced with personal and professional challenges as a result of their relationship.
At the beginning of the film, Major Lloyd Gruver is assigned to a US Air Force base in Japan. He is initially resistant to the assignment and expresses his frustration with the Japanese people and culture. However, his attitude begins to change when he meets a beautiful Japanese woman named Hana-Ogi (Miiko Taka) and they start a relationship.
Gruver's relationship with Hana-Ogi is complicated by the fact that he is already engaged to a woman back in the United States, and he faces pressure from his superiors to end the relationship with Hana-Ogi. Meanwhile, Gruver's friend and fellow soldier Joe Kelly falls in love with a woman named Katsumi (Miyoshi Umeki) and decides to marry her. This decision puts Kelly in conflict with military policy, which prohibits US soldiers from marrying Japanese women.
As Gruver becomes more involved with Hana-Ogi, he begins to question his own prejudices and grapple with the larger issues of US-Japan relations and the impact of the military's policies on personal relationships. Eventually, he decides to take a stand and serves as the best man at Kelly and Katsumi's wedding, despite the risk to his own career.
Sayonara was a groundbreaking film at the time of its release, as it was one of the first major Hollywood productions to deal with issues of racism and interracial relationships. The film won four Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actress for Miyoshi Umeki, who became the first Asian actor to win an Oscar. Sayonara remains an important and influential film in the history of American cinema.
