Picture Bride (1994)

Riyo marries a man more than twice her age. She is devastated and labors in the sugar cane field. At the end she is able to love her husband.

Director:

Kayo Hatta

Writers:

Kayo Hatta (screenplay), Kayo Hatta (story)

Stars:

Yûki Kudô, Akira Takayama, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa

2 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Yûki Kudô	...	Riyo
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa	...	Kanzaki
Tamlyn Tomita	...	Kana
Akira Takayama	...	Matsuji
Yôko Sugi	...	Aunt Sode
Christianne Mays	...	Miss Pieper
Toshirô Mifune	...	The Benshi
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Michael Ashby	...	McCullum
James Grant Benton	...	Antone
Glenn Cannon	...	Mer. Pieper
Lito Capiña	...	Augusto
Peter Clark	...	Christian minister
Warren Fabro	...	Felipe
Michael Hasegawa	...	Immigration officer
Kyle Kakuno	...	Yamamoto

Storyline

The story of 16-year-old Riyo who journeys to Hawaii in 1918 to marry a man she has never met, except through photographs and letters they have exchanged. Hoping to escape a troubled past and to start anew, Riyo is bitterly disappointed upon her arrival: her husband is twice her age and Hawaii is not the paradise she expected. As Riyo comes to terms with her new home, she discovers a land full of hardship, struggle--and unexpected joy.

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Plot Keywords:

hawaii | f rated | japanese in hawaii | death | loveless marriage | 

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Taglines:

Hawaii, 1918. She left Japan for a man she had never met, in a new world she couldn't imagine... America.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sensuality

Details

Country:

Japan USA

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

5 May 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Picture Bride

Filming Locations:

Waialua, O'ahu, Hawaii, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$1,238,905

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cecile Films,Miramax,Thousand Cranes Filmworks

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When the character played by Toshiro Mifune sees two children playing with stick swords, he calls them out by their names "Toshiro" and "Akira", a reference to himself and director Akira Kurosawa, who directed Mifune in 16 films.

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Quotes

Kana: The first time I get off the boat, I see Kanzaki. I think, "Ooh! He's so handsome. How I get this kind handsome man? More better than picture!" All the other brides look at us, tell me "Lucky!" He act so nice, so kind. I think I'm in paradise.
Riyo: Why Kanzak-san change?
Kana: [tearfully] I don't know. But my, he get mean.

User Reviews

A Piece of History

The story of 16-year-old Riyo who journeys to Hawaii in 1918 to marry a man she has never met, except through photographs and letters they have exchanged. Hoping to escape a troubled past and to start anew, Riyo is bitterly disappointed upon her arrival: her husband is twice her age and Hawaii is not the paradise she expected.

What really stands out about this film is the look on the new bride's face. I understand her shock of meeting her husband and finding him to be old, but she maintains this look of shock and despair for quite a while. I would expect a marriage like this to be something you accept if you are going to go into it, but she had clearly not thought it through.

Also, historically, it is interesting to consider the role the Japanese had in Hawaii. Americans who may not know about Hawaiian history or culture might only connect Japan to the Pearl Harbor attack, but it happens to be the case that a great many Japanese had settled on the islands. At the time Hawaii became a state (1959), there may have been more Japanese than Europeans there.