Rising Sun over Hollywood: American Imaginings of the Japanese Setting in Cinema- Part 2 [the 1970s-1980s]

Disclaimer: The article is filled with spoilers for such movies as The Yakuza, Shogun, The Challenge, Tokyo Pop, Black Rain.

 

You made the rain black, and shoved your values down our throat. We forgot who we were. You created Sato and thousands like him. I'm paying you back. ~ Oyabun from Black Rain

 
Hello and welcome to today’s update. As I am writing these words, I realise that a considerable amount of time has passed since my last blog update, and even more daylight will be burned by the time this article is ready for publication. As I explained months ago, my break from writing was caused by work obligations, but I was also struggling with personal stuff, which made me seriously consider whether or not I should continue running this blog. To cut the long story short, I decided to continue, but instead of forcing myself to watch a random Asian film I was not in the mood for, I decided to bring myself round and finish the old article project that was started over a year ago and abandoned by yours (lazy) truly.
     So here we are, this is the second part of my article series on American movies focusing on Japan. In the previous part, I covered the decades between the 1950s and the 1960s, whereas this text focuses on the period between the 1970s and the 1980s. The reason as to why I decided to finally write the second part was not only my desire to finish the project, but the still visible Hollywood’s preoccupation with Japanese pop culture in the world of today. For example, Netflix relentlessly churns out their own anime shows as well as live-action adaptations of popular franchises. In addition, Godzilla still rules within the realm of global box office on both sides of the Pacific. Last but not least. Hulu and FX gear up to deliver yet another adaptation of James Clavell’s classic novel Shogun, which was originally published in 1975.

     With regard to perception of The Land of the Rising Sun by Hollywood, it is the period of the 1970s that marks a noticeable shift for the better. Indeed, the movies from the 1950s and the 1960s strived to provide positive depictions of Japan and its people, but oftentimes Japanese characters were played by Western actors in heavy makeup. It appears as if the West was convinced it was permissible or even trendy to pretend to be Japanese (or turn Japanese, for lack of a better term).
     The 1970s definitely ushered in a different approach to Western enchantment of the Orient. Indeed, the change can already be noticed in the historical war drama Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) directed by Richard Fleischer and Kinji Fukasaku. The production of the 20th Century Fox strives to accurately retell the attack on Pearl Harbor which pushed the United States into officially joining World War II.

     Undoubtedly, Tora! Tora! Tora! differentiates itself from other standard war flicks with this documentary style that puts emphasis on reality and facts rather than telling how it all happened from the perspective of one fictional character. That is why I prefer Tora! Tora! Tora! over Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor (2001). Still again, Tora! Tora! Tora! does contain a fair share of not only action, but also pathos and respect towards depicting Japanese soldiers not as bloodthirsty monsters but man of pride. I will always remember a scene in which the Akagi Air Group departs and the Lieutenant Commander Mitsuo Fuchida receives a Bandana with the national symbol of Japan and ties it around his head. I can’t help but wonder how Akira Kurosawa would depict the Japanese side of the conflict had he stayed on as the director, but I am pleased with the final movie nonetheless.
     Apart from war themes, another movie worth mentioning is Sydney Pollack’s The Yakuza from 1975. In this neo-noir flick penned by Paul Schrader and Robert Towne, we follow Harry Kilmer (Robert Mitchum), a retired detective who travels from the US to Japan in order to rescue the daughter of his old friend. However, not everything seems what it appears to be and soon after Kilmer finds himself in direct conflict with the Yakuza and in need to face old ghosts of the past.

     The Yakuza is not by any means a painstakingly gut-wrenching depiction of the Japanese underworld done in the style of the aforementioned Kinji Fukasaku. Nevertheless, the movie does provide a hidden message about the American consequences of occupying Japan in the 1940s and 1950s and how these consequences affect the younger generation who never experienced the atrocities of war. Hollywood pays out the classic theme of children suffering for the sins of their parents, but it is up to the parent figures: Kilmer and Tanaka (Ken Takakura) to take matters into their own hands and restore order.
     Sidney Pollack presents in his picture the image of Japan as a country that stands tall on the concept of honour, justice, and sacrifice. To modern-day viewers, these ideas might not be so out-of-the-box, but they might have appeared like that in the 1970s. Therefore, The Yakuza shows us the Western protagonist who comes to understand the intricacies of the Oriental culture and eventually makes his own sacrifice in order to receive forgiveness from a Japanese person who was indebted to him. Robert Mitchum and Ken Takakura really nailed it to the cross with their performances.

     Unfortunately, the same positives cannot be said about the 1978 comedy called Bad News Bears Go to Japan, which is in fact the third instalment of the series centering around children playing football. I caught a fragment of this film a couple of years ago on TV and thought to myself, “Hmm, that's interesting.” One could think that a film about a little league baseball team would make great material for a family comedy, but nothing could be further from the truth. The Bad News Bears Go to Japan desperately tries to cater for anti-Japanese audiences by providing an abundance of racist and stereotypical jokes about Japan and its culture (mispronouncing Domo Arigato, usings ethnic slurs such as Japs and Nips, referencing Pearl Harbor...) Consequently, what is supposed to be a baseball flick for kids is actually a tasteless SNL sketch for redneck John Doe.
     Interestingly, the jokes get significantly toned down in the second half of the picture, which makes the theme of “Murica vs. Japan on the baseball field” completely incoherent towards the end. Basically, the storyline goes completely nowhere and achieves no resolution at all. What is more, the movie has one of the creepiest love subplots I have ever seen on screen. One of the The Bears players accidentally spots a beautiful girl in a kimono (played by Hatsune Ishihara) in the middle of the street and follows her around like Jason Vorhees, constantly talking to her in English. Of course, the screenplay is completely bonkers and the girl reciprocates the advances of a teenager who actually should have been jailed by the Kasumigaseki police for his outrageous behaviour.
     Tony Curtis as the team’s manager seems tired and depressed on the screen, as if appearing in this movie was some sort of a punishment for him. The legendary Tomisaburo Wakayama (Lone Wolf and Cub series) plays a coach of the Japanese team but his role is wasted as well. With regard to a few advantages, I have to praise the nicely done overview shots of Tokyo and Yokohama which are a pleasure to watch in HD. In addition, one scene attempts to recreate the spirit of variety shows from the Showa era, and it works really well.

     This brings us to the NBC miniseries from 1980, which of course is the original adaptation of James Clavell’s Shogun with Richard Chamberlain, Toshiro Mifune, and Yoko Shimada in the leading roles.
     I remember watching it on Television as a child, but not paying much attention to it. Years later, when I was recovering from an illness, I rewatched the show on TV and now I dare to think it is the best you can get in terms of the “gaijin in Japan” trope. There is an internal struggle for power, Portuguese colonialism, the Catholic Church, and Protestants! Perhaps the most important aspect of the series is the fact that our protagonist John Blackthorne (Richard Chamberlain) is not the white saviour, but a pawn in the hands of Lord Toranaga (epic Toshiro Mifune). Interracial romance also works (beautiful Yoko Shimada), but surprisingly it does not receive a happy ending as in the case of Sayonara! with Marlon Brando.
     A lot of footage was shot on location in Japan, so I am quite surprised to learn that the show did not hit it big there upon original broadcast. Originally, 5 episodes were made with varying runtimes, but in my country, the show was divided into 10 episodes, each 50 minutes long. All things considered, Shogun is definitely a criminally-underrated series. Even though it may not accurately communicate the subtlety of Japanese culture, the historical content is extremely important because Shogun basically presents a fictionalised tale of the rise of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

     Another movie that should not go unnoticed is The Challenge (1982). The film was directed by John Frankenheimer who made such classics as The Manchurian Candidate, The French Connection II, and Ronin. The music score was done by the legendary Jerry Goldsmith, and the main stars are Scott Glenn and Toshiro Mifune.
     Interestingly, the movie was shot entirely on location in Japan and the crew even had a Japanese cinematographer. The storyline itself is a bit too thin (our heroic protagonist from the West has to protect two katana swords from his sensei's evil brother), but marvelous Japanese setting and dynamic personalities of Glenn and Mifune keep this show going.
     The movie evidently tries to be too edgy at times, almost exploitation-like (lots of blood in fight scenes, but not anything extremely r-rated), but this aspect is forgivable. However, the theme of romance between the hero and the sensei's daughter is so forced and out of place. It functions only as an excuse for a love scene.

     Nevertheless, I have to praise the effort of the crewmembers. In a scene where Glenn confronts one of the henchmen you can tell that they shot the entire thing spontaneously in the middle of a street with real passersby. What is more, Kyoto International Conference Center was used as “the villain's lair.” Even 40 years since the movie's release, not much has changed in this bizarre building which tries to mix Japanese traditionality with high-tech modernity. It is a pleasure to see Toshiro Mifune taking down the baddies from behind V-shaped columns and audience seats.
     All in all, The Challenge is a surprisingly well-made flick. Mifune really gets to prove that he can carry a Hollywood movie, and it is also great to see Scott Glenn in "oriental action" as a Westerner who learns the Japanese values.

     Ron Howard’s wacky comedy from 1986 called Gung Ho provides an interesting play on the clash of cultures when the Japanese strive for perfection collides with American sloppiness. Arguably, the most interesting sequence in the film is the opening in which the main character Hunt Stevenson (Michael Keaton) is sent to Japan to negotiate the takeover of a car manufacturing plant. Needless to say, the Westerner’s brief sojourn in Japan is not entirely comfortable.
     The same can be said about Daniel LaRusso’s trip in The Karate Kid Part II (1986). The sequel to the popular film transports sensei and his student to a village on Okinawa, where Mr Miyagi has to confront his past. Unfortunately, The Karate Kid Part II does not hit the same sensibilities as The Yakuza, resorting only to raw fight sequences, which make you question the validity of Japan portrayed on screen. All in all, the movie’s approach towards the Oriental sphere is very simplistic if not entirely ignorant.

     Additionally, there is also Tokyo Pop (1988), a musical comedy film in which we follow the misadventures of an American girl Wendy Reed (played by Carrie Hamilton) who meets a Japanese boy called Hiro (Yutaka Tadokoro) and his band, the Red Warriors. They join forces and decide to make it big in the music industry.
     Interestingly, Tokyo Pop provides a very honest portrayal of a Westerner’s fate of making it big in Japan. It is a very hard place to live for a foreigner, and life is not a fairy tale. Wendy and Hiro might have fallen in love together, but it does not mean they can be together. Although she tries to integrate into the Japanese society, Wendy realises that she is unable to do so. At the end of the day, memories of her time with Hiro matter the most for Wendy.

     Last but not least, allow me to take a look at Black Rain (1989) produced by Paramount Pictures and directed by Ridley Scott. In my opinion, this often underrated picture is one of the quintessential movies that focus on the theme of a Westerner in Japan.
     Initially, you are bound to categorise this flick as a typical 1980s buddy-cop action flick, but while being superficially stereotypical, it breaks many conventions of the genre. For instance, our main protagonist, Nick Conklin (Michael Douglas), is a cop "on the take". He is tired, angry, and in debt. It is surprising that he is not playing russian roulette with his gun. However, upon meeting a Japanese officer Masahiro (Ken Takakura), he regains his integrity and decides to start his life anew. What is more,Conklin's partner (Andy Garcia) is not killed at the beginning or the end of the film, but right in the middle. This is so unexpected that we really feel Conkiln's shock when this happens. In addition, the main bad guy (Yusaku Matsuda) does not die in the final confrontation. Instead, Conklin and Masahiro do everything by the book and they arrest the culprit.

     The cinematography is outstanding (Osaka totally looks like futuristic LA from Blade Runner), Hans Zimmer is literally at his best with an epic music score, and performances of the leads are top-notch across the board. Arguably, the most eerie scene of the film is when Conklin has a discussion with oyabun (played by Tomisaburo Wakayama), in which the yakuza boss explains that the Americans are directly responsible for creating the generation of psychopaths like the villainous Sato: men without honour, only focused on power and greed.
     To conclude, Hollywood productions preoccupied with the image of Japan from the 1970s and the 1980s are generally more respectful and considerate than the movies from the previous decades. The Japanese persona is no longer ridiculed by being portrayed by a Western actor, and a character of a foreigner comes to appreciate the strange but ordered world of the Orient in which he or she experiences personal catharsis. Stay tuned for the third part of the article series in which I will discuss the period of the 1990s. Hopefully, this will take me a shorter amount of time than composing part 2. In the meantime, thank you for reading.

Sources and images used: Speaking in Images: Japan in Hollywood Films (2005) by Charles Fox * Pictures used are screenshots and photos taken from the movies.

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