Themes: Social Injustice, Life on the Homefront, Interracial/Cross-Cultural Romance
Main Cast: Dennis Quaid, Tamlyn Tomita, Sab Shimono, Shizuko Hoshi, Stan Egi
Release Year: 1990
Country: US
Run Time: 135 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
One of the few American films to deal with the tragic story of the internment of Asian-Americans during World War II, Come See the Paradise opens in the late 1930s, as Jack McGurn (Dennis Quaid) is working as a union organizer in New York City. Jack finds himself on the wrong side of the law after he gets involved in an ill-advised bombing of a scab shop, and he flees to Los Angeles, where Hiroshi Kawamura (Sab Shimono) gives him a job as a projectionist in L.A.'s Little Tokyo. Jack soon meets Hiroshi's beautiful daughter Lily (Tamlyn Tomita) and it's love at first sight. Jack and Lily decide to get married, but Hiroshi opposes the match and California law prevents mixed-race couples from obtaining a marriage license. Jack and Lily move to Seattle, where they are wed and soon have a daughter. Jack, however, begins working with the union again, which puts a strain on their marriage; Lily takes their child and returns to Los Angeles. But before long the United States enters World War II, and the Kawamura family is sent (along with all other Americans of Japanese descent living in California) to an internment camp, as it is believed they will become traitors against America if left to their own devices. Jack, ironically, is drafted into the Army and soon goes AWOL to return to California, where he tries to find his wife in the camps. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Come See the Paradise is a truly underrated film from director Alan Parker that deserved far better from awards committees and theatergoers than the indifferent reception it received. An unflinching examination of a long-ignored, shameful side of World War II, this powerful drama is cleverly shot in the gauzy, golden-hued tones of a nostalgic period piece, but it has a lot more on its mind than simply rehashing the glory of the war years. Mixed-race marriage, the U.S. government's attempts to quell organized labor, and its reprehensible policy toward its own Japanese-American citizens are just a few of the issues delineated in a superb film that remembers all too keenly that the good old days weren't so good for some. Along with his previous film Mississippi Burning (1988), director Parker creates a significant pair of thoughtful, absorbing historical fictions replete with excellent performances and sharp, critical observations of disgraceful chapters in American history. Another real standout element here is the intense, atmospheric score by composer Randy Edelman, which became ubiquitous in the trailers of other films for many years afterward. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Ronald Yamamoto - Harry Kawamura; Naomi Nakano - Joyce Kawamura; Brady Tsurutani - Frankie Kawamura; Elizabeth Gilliam - Young Mini; Shyree Mezick - Middle Mini; Colm Meaney - Gerry McGurn; Becky Ann Baker - Marge McGurn; Don Adler - Race Track Soldier; Shuko Akune - Reiko Sakoda; Tommy Allen; Cynthia Aso; Tricia L. Campbell; David Carpenter - Army Captain; Paul A. DiCocco, Jr. - Eddie; Ben di Gregorio - FBI Agent; Mark Earley - Wedding Singer; Jumi Emizawa - Camp Singer; Emi Endo - Japanese Girl; John Finnegan - Brennan; Howard French - Draft Clerk; Mariko Fujinaka - Fumiko; Joe Heinemann; Tad Horino - Mr. Noji; Sanae Hosaka - Social Club Singer; Takumaro Ikeguchi - Mr. Fujioka; Yoshimi Imai - Mr. Yamanaka; Lenny Imamura - Japanese Actor; Fred Irinaga - Mr. Matsui; Dale Ishimoto - Mr. Ogata; Richard Iwamoto - Committee Chairman; John Jensen; Danny Kamekona - Mr. Nishikawa; Douglas Kato; Ken Katsumoto - Kenji; Caroline Junko King - Principal; Teri Eiko Koide; Joe Lisi - Detective; Fran Lucci - Dance Hall Singer; Doug MacHugh - Store Manager; Dave MacIntyre - Santa; Ken Y. Mayeno; John Mazzocco; John McColpin - MP Soldier; Kevin McDermott - Administrator; Goh Misawa - Acting Troupe Manager; Marian Mukogawa - Fujioka's Mother; Akemi Nishino - Dulcie Kawamura; Kim Robillard - Road Block Soldier; Bill M. Ryusaki - Issei Gentleman; Saachiko - Woman in Uniform; Makio Sasaki - Heckler; Keenan Shimizu; Ben Slack - Farmer; Gigi Toya - Kindergarten Teacher; Frank Trocha; Pruitt Taylor Vince - Augie Farrell; Kelsy White - McGurn Children; George Wilbur; Ian Woolf - Basic Training Sergeant; Michael York - Dance Hall Band Member; Harunobu Yoshida - Demonstration Leader; Shinko isobe - Mrs. Ogata; Robert F. Colesberry - Truck Driver; George "Buck" Flower; Lisa Clarkson; Allan Graf - Theatre Men
Credit
John Willett - Art Director, Nellie Nugiel - Associate Producer, Molly Maginnis - Costume Designer, Alan Parker - Director, Gerry Hambling - Editor, Randy Edelman - Composer (Music Score), Geoffrey Kirkland - Production Designer, Michael Seresin - Cinematographer, John J. Smith - Production Manager, Robert F. Colesberry - Producer, Jim Erickson - Set Designer, Stephen Traxler - Set Designer, John Robotham - Stunts, Alan Parker - Screenwriter
Jack McGurn (Quaid) moves to Los Angeles from New York City in 1936 to escape from his troubled past. He takes a job as a projectionist in a movie theater run by a Japanese-American family. He falls in love with his Japanese boss's daughter. Forbidden to see one another and banned from marrying by California law, the couple escape to Seattle, where they have a daughter. When World War II breaks out, McGurn's wife and daughter are sent to Manzanar while McGurn is drafted into the United States Army. He goes AWOL to visit his family in the camp. The story is told in flashback as the mother tells her daughter about her father, whom she barely remembers, as the two of them are walking down to the train station to reunite with Jack after they are released from the camp near the end of the war.
