Come See the Paradise (1990)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Alan Parker

Writer (WGA):

Alan Parker (written by)

Release Date:

January 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | Romance | War

Tagline:

In 1942, over 100,000 Americans were interned in prison camps.....In America.

Plot:

Portraying one of the shadier details of American history, this is the story of Jack McGurn, who comes to Los Angeles in 1936...

Plot Keywords:

Wedding Ceremony | Loss Of Brother | Japanese American | Burn Victim | Jeep

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Dennis Quaid	...	Jack McGurn
Tamlyn Tomita	...	Lily Yuriko Kawamura / McGann
Sab Shimono	...	Hiroshi Kawamura
Shizuko Hoshi	...	Mrs. Kawamura
Stan Egi	...	Charlie Kawamura
Ronald Yamamoto	...	Harry Kawamura
Akemi Nishino	...	Dulcie Kawamura
Naomi Nakano	...	Joyce Kawamura
Brady Tsurutani	...	Frankie Kawamura
Elizabeth Gilliam	...	Younger Mini McGann
Shyree Mezick	...	Middle Mini McGann
Caroline Junko King	...	Older Mini McGann
Pruitt Taylor Vince	...	Augie Farrell
Colm Meaney	...	Gerry McGurn
Becky Ann Baker	...	Marge McGurn

Runtime:

138 min | 133 min (FMC Library Print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:M | Iceland:L | Singapore:PG | Argentina:Atp | Chile:TE | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:11 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Astoria, Oregon, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Goofs:

Factual errors: Toward the end when Lily is sitting at the kitchen table she reports to her aunt that a big bomb, an atomic bomb, was dropped over Hiroshima. "In a 1/10th of a second 200,000 people were killed". This is a factual error. Approximately 70,000 were killed that day and roughly another 70,000 by the end of 1945.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Older Mini McGann: Why are we so early?
Lily Yuriko Kawamura: It's good to early.
Older Mini McGann: Do you ever worry that you won't recognize him, Mama?
Lily Yuriko Kawamura: You recgnize me, don't you?
Older Mini McGann: Well, he might have grown a beard or a moustache or something. And I was so little. I only think I remember him. Do you think he'll remember me?
Lily Yuriko Kawamura: Well, he has all your photographs and all the letters you wrote him, and he has all your school reports
Older Mini McGann: You sent him my school reports?
Lily Yuriko Kawamura: Of course I did. I wanted to let him know how well you were doing. Come on, now. I got some tea and rice cakes here. We'll have a nice talk while we're walking, okay? Let's go.
Older Mini McGann: How far do we have to walk?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in "SexTV: Dragon Ladies & Kung-Fu Masters: Re-Constructing Asian American Sexualty (#6.30)" (2004)

Soundtrack:

Kawamura Family Theme

I gave it a 7 but wish it could have been better

Movie about the Japanese internment camps during WWII. It starts in 1936 when angry union organizer Jack (Dennis Quaid) meets beautiful Japanese-American Lily (Tamlyn Tomita) and falls in love. They get married, have a child...and then the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. All Japanese people, Americans or not, lost their homes, their businesses and were shipped out to internment camps to "protect" them. It shows how the camps affect Lilly, her family and Jack.

As far as I know this is the only commercial film to deal with one of the more horrifying chapters in American history. Too bad it just isn't that good. It was made on a big budget with a sweeping music score and good performances by all (Quaid was just fantastic) but the script just wasn't that good. If jumps all over the place and it's hard to get a handle on what's going on. The flashback structure used in the film is confusing and intrusive. It starts off by Lily telling the child about what happened. They show the story, you're getting all caught up in the characters and situations--and then you're back to Lily talking to her kid. It pulls you completely out of the film. Also, all the Japanese characters seem to meekly agree to go to the camps. Wasn't there any anger at all? Any fighting back? I question how truthful that was.

As for the internment camps this is definitely a bleak chapter in history. It wasn't even taught in schools until the 1980s! Doing this film (which came out in 1990) was pretty risky and the studio seemed to get scared. It was barely released and the ads concentrated on the love story NOT the internment one. It played in Boston for only two weeks with next to no advertisements at a tiny little theatre--I managed to catch it before it closed. This film lost a ton of money. Director-writer Alan Parker said the studio agreed with him later on--that they had "f***ed up" (his words not mine) on the release. Still--it just isn't that good. I never once felt emotionally involved with the characters or situations. It gets a 7 as a good attempt at a very difficult subject.