Today the negative criticism of this movie centers around the choice of Alec Guiness to play the older Japanese man. I suspect that, fifty-some years ago when this movie was made, an era in which Marlon Brando also played a Japanese man on screen (Teahouse of the August Moon), more eyebrows were raised by the casting of Catholic Rosalind Russell as the very Jewish Ms. Jacoby. (On Broadway that role had been played by Molly Picon, who had been an important figure in the New York Yiddish theater before moving to roles in English.)
If there are some Japanese stereotypes in this movie, there are even more New York Jewish stereotypes. Given that the play on which it was based, and the script for this movie, were written by Leonard Spigelgass, who was himself a Jewish man born in Brooklyn, like Ms. Jacoby, the apparent stereotypes become very complex. How different is Ms. Jacoby from, say, the Goldbergs in the famous radio series of that name, written by another Jewish writer, Gertude Berg?
So, what if we get off our pc horses for a moment, accept that the casting is strange for our time but not so strange for 50 years ago, and consider what else there is to the movie? Not much, frankly. Ms. Jacoby is quickly charmed by Mr. Asano, despite the fact that her son had been killed by the Japanese during the war only 15 years before. Thereafter the only problems she has with the Japanese businessman are those caused by her daughter and son-in-law. Mr. Asano appears to have no problems with being interested in a Caucasian woman. There isn't really a lot to the material.
Yes, of course, the two leads do a wonderful job with it, because they were first-rate actors. But there really isn't much to the material.
It's a pleasant movie, certainly, but if you stop getting upset about the casting, there really isn't a lot left to take an interest in.
If there are some Japanese stereotypes in this movie, there are even more New York Jewish stereotypes. Given that the play on which it was based, and the script for this movie, were written by Leonard Spigelgass, who was himself a Jewish man born in Brooklyn, like Ms. Jacoby, the apparent stereotypes become very complex. How different is Ms. Jacoby from, say, the Goldbergs in the famous radio series of that name, written by another Jewish writer, Gertude Berg?
So, what if we get off our pc horses for a moment, accept that the casting is strange for our time but not so strange for 50 years ago, and consider what else there is to the movie? Not much, frankly. Ms. Jacoby is quickly charmed by Mr. Asano, despite the fact that her son had been killed by the Japanese during the war only 15 years before. Thereafter the only problems she has with the Japanese businessman are those caused by her daughter and son-in-law. Mr. Asano appears to have no problems with being interested in a Caucasian woman. There isn't really a lot to the material.
Yes, of course, the two leads do a wonderful job with it, because they were first-rate actors. But there really isn't much to the material.
It's a pleasant movie, certainly, but if you stop getting upset about the casting, there really isn't a lot left to take an interest in.