Customer Reviews

Picture Bride

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I had never heard of this film, but when I stumbled upon it in the video store, I found its premise fascinating. As the film explains, with the advent of photography, the Asian tradition of arranged marriages became modernized in the early twentieth century, allowing families and matchmakers to meet, using photographs of the prospective brides and bridegrooms in lieu of face-to-face meetings. This was especially convenient, when the parties sought to be matched lived in far-flung parts of the country or even different parts of the world. This film explores this phenomena within the context of the so-called "picture brides" of Hawai'i. It is estimated that between 1907 and 1924, approximately twenty thousand young Asian woman from Japan, Okinawa, and Korea, became "picture brides", leaving their native country and journeying to Hawai'i to become the wives of men that they had never met. This film is a composite of their stories and experiences.

The story begins in 1918 in Yokahama, where a beautiful, young, Japanese woman named Riyo Nakamura (Youki Kudoh) is left an orphan, having just buried her father. It seems that both her parents have died of a disease that stigmatizes Riyo in terms of her marriage prospects. Shortly after, Riyo's Aunt Sode (Yoko Sugi) visits a matchmaker. She then presents her niece with a photograph of a young, handsome man. She tells her niece that his name is Matsuji Kimura and that he is a sugar cane farmer in Hawai'i. Her aunt hopes that Hawai'i is far enough away so that Riyo's prospective husband will not know how her parents died. With Riyo's assent, the marriage is arranged.

When Riyo arrives in Hawai'i, dressed in western style clothing, she gets the shock of her life. It seems that she is not the only one with secrets. It turns out that the photograph that Matsuji Kimura (Akira Takayama) had sent was one that had evidently been taken many years earlier, as the man who meets her at the dock turns out to be even older than Riyo's deceased father. A group marriage then takes place, as she is but one of many "picture brides" arriving. Shocked by the deception, which apparently was quite common at the time, with men routinely sending old photographs or substituting photographs of their better looking friend, the reluctant Riyo accompanies her new husband to her new home. She is clearly not a happy camper. Riyo, a city girl, is in for a further shock, discovering that her home is deep in the country and is nothing more than a tiny wooden shack in the middle of nowhere.

The next day, she discovers the fate that awaits her. She is taken to a sugar cane plantation, where she is expected to work in the fields from morning til dusk for sixty-five cents a day. It is there that her husband also works. Riyo decides then and there that she will work as hard as she can to save money to return to Japan. She makes a friend, a beautiful, young, earthy woman named Kana (Tamlyn Tomita) with whom she bonds. Kana is married to a handsome, young man named Kanzaki with whom she has a child. The hard working Kana is also a laundress, in addition to being a field worker, and Riyo joins Kana as a partner in her laundry business in order to be able to save more money and expedite her return to Japan.

As her friendship develops with Kana, Riyo discovers that Kana and her husband have a tempestuous marriage. While passionate, it is also filled with violence, as Kanzaki is unmanned by his inability to provide for his wife and child in the way that he would wish. Meanwhile, Matsuji is a patient man, who has not forced himself on his wife, knowing her aversion to him. He is kind to her, despite knowing that she is working very hard to save money in order to return to Japan and be rid of him. Little by little, however, he grows on her, as a mutual affection begins to develop, and Riyo learns to appreciate his good qualities.

The film tells the story of Riyo and the reality of her life in Hawai'i. It shows what life was like for her, as well as the development of her relationship with Matsuji. Hers is the story of many women who were "picture brides" at the time. It is a beautifully told tale on many levels. It captures much of the story of those who were actual "picture brides", from the singing in the fields, to the hardships sustained, and the despair sometimes felt at their lot in life, often juxtaposed with contentment.

There is even a special treat in the film where the legendary and much revered Japanese actor, Toshiro Mifune, plays the role of a Benshi, which was a silent picture narrator. In Japan, Benshis would often have their own following, depending upon their narrative skills, with people flocking to hear a particular Benshi narrate a film. This would be Toshiro Mifune's final film role, before succumbing to the ravages of Parkinson's disease in 1997.

This is the first feature length film for filmmaker Kayo Hatta, and the first feature length film by an Asian-American woman. It won the coveted 1995 Sundance Film Festival Audience Choice Award. Having seen the film it is not surprising, as the film tells such a compelling story. Moreover, the cinematography is exquisite in this film, and the acting is first rate. It is hard to believe that the film was made on a shoe string budget by a first time feature film director. One would never know it from seeing the film, as it is a quality film directed with a seeming sure hand. I am only glad that Miramax Studio had the good sense to pick up this film. Bravo!

Stunning cinematography and an engaging plot make this film a must-see, especially for Japanophiles and social historians. You experience the emotions of a Japanese "picture bride," who must find a way to live with an elderly stranger for a husband, in a place far from home. The circumstances which bring her to Hawaii are also a fascinating education in superstitions and prejudices existing at the turn of the century on both sides of the Pacific. Just beautiful.

It's ashamed that this little gem hasn't garnered a larger following. "Picture Bride" is a terrific film that poignantly and accurately hits at the heart of the Japanese immigration to Hawaii in the early 1900's. A young girl, Riyo, apprehensively leaves Japan for Hawaii in order to marry a man she only knows through an aged photograph. Once there, she has to come to grips with the harsh reality that the man she is to marry is much older and the life in front of her is that of manual labor in the sugar cane fields. But through this a life is forged and a new generation is started in the beautiful Hawaiian isles. Having been born and raised in Hawaii, I can't begin to express how on-the-mark this film is. This, in part, is the story of my grandparents and my family.

The Hawaiian backdrop is wonderfully photographed. The performances are authentic and outstanding. Particularly impressive was the performance of Tamlyn Tomita who I had mistaken for a local (Hawaiian born) girl. Her demeanor, speech syntax and use of local dialect were dead-on. Kudos to director Kayo Hatta for creating this masterful and beautifully told tribute to all of those women who made such a journey.

After viewing the video, my 3rd time, I was struck by the difference of today's immigrants experience and those of the Japanese in the early 1920's. Viewing the video for an Asian American studies class, the vivid imagery of the movie along with the touching dialogue, "The Picture Bride," hit home what it really meant to be a picture bride. Marrying a man 20 years your senior, an idea that strikes most of us as digusting, but regardlessly, the movie captures the heart of the era of the Japanese Picture Brides.

This film is an absolute masterpiece of film making and a great tribute to Ms. Kayo Hatta's skill and integrity. This film has finally made it's way to DVD and it is wonderfully divine! The behind the scenes on the DVD make it worth the price alone! The talent in this film is outstanding as well, with the very beautiful Ms. Yuki Kudoh and Ms. Tamlyn Tomita comprising the main characters. A special appearance by Toshiro Mifune is also not to be missed. Haunting, striking, touching and gorgeous, this film is not to be missed. Do yourself a favor and pick up this must-have DVD!!

Coming from a city life, the main character in this story gradually adopted to the life of a sugar cane farmer in a remote pacific island. She did not like her husband a bit at the beginning and wanted to go back to her city home. But, with time, she gradually discovered the beauty and simple pleasure of this life. This vibrantly colorful biographical depiction of the life of a woman (the 'picture bride') is beautifully pictured too. There are situations when mixing three languages (Japanese, English and Hawaiian) together disturbed the rhythm of the conversation among characters, but that does not hinder one enjoying the rest of it. END

Picture Bride is the touching story of a young Japanese girl who travels to Hawaii in 1918 to marry a man she has only seen in a photo. The movie does an excellent job portraying the emotional ups and downs of the immigrant Japanese community and their complex relationships to the other cultural groups in Hawaii at the time.

Youki Kodoh gives a memorable performance as the young bride. She is probably best know to English audiences from her roll as a Japanese tourist in the quirky move "Mystery Train" and her smaller role as a Geisha in the more recent "Memoirs of a Geisha." This film also contains the last appearance of veteran actor Toshiro Mifune. Despite his failing health at the time he wanted to help this remarkable story be told.

The DVD extras contain an informative documentary on the making of the film and the history of the real people who inspired the movie. The all woman team who produced, directed and wrote the movie interviewed many Japanese Americans who had gone through similar experiences to get their first hand recollection of this historical phenomena. This sense of authenticity is in part why it was voted an Official Selection at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival.

For anyone interested in the history of Japan, America and Hawaii this is good choice.

This first-time effort by Hawaiian-born Kayo Hatta worked for me cuz it didn't have the depth that I'm sure she intended. It only skimmed the surface of the potential melodrama of the story and, so, avoided becoming soggy with emotion. What remained were glimpses of a lifestyle shockingly different than the paradise promised by planatation owners and bachelor laborers to "picture brides" across the sea.

Fortune smiled on Hatta when she was talked into casting Japanese actress Youki Kudoh. Youki's in almost every scene and she easily carried the film with her nuanced, adorable performance. Her offbeat cuteness and delicacy enhanced the fish-out-of-water quality of the movie.

Her famous countryman, Toshiro Mifune, only appeared briefly but vividly in his second-to-last film. Speaking of brief, you might recognize Jason Scott Lee in an uncredited appearance.

This is a nice film to look at. Very colorful -- which is odd for an American film. While it took advantage of the magnificent Hawaiian scenery, it was mostly shot in the deep-green, almost claustrophobic cane fields. A clever atmospheric choice.

I particularly liked the effort to present the language situation authentically rather than turn everything into American English. Probably more than half of the dialog is in Japanese (with subtitles). Most of the English is heavily accented pidgin (remember Hawaii Five-0?) with a wee bit of Scots English and American English. If you're alert, you'll notice a Filipino dialect.

Sadly, Kayo Hatto -- who conceived, produced, co-wrote (with her sister), and directed -- did only a few film shorts since. Then, in 2005, she drowned accidently at age 47. So this is her feature film legacy. It's not deep dramatically, but it's wide in texture. Aloha, Kayo. And mahalo.

This is a surprisingly accurate account of what picture brides went through as they ventured out of Japan to marry Japanese laborers living in Hawaii who worked in the cane fields and pineapple plantations. It was a hard, grueling life, and quite often the men were much older than the brides. Japanese laborers were treated cruelly by the Portuguese lunas, which spurred them to earn enough to get out of their contracts and start their own businesses. The harsh life motivated Japanese to make life better for their offspring; education was and still is emphasized. Features Tamlyn Tomita of THE JOY LUCK CLUB fame.

"Picture Bride" holds a very special place in my heart. My Mother was one of these women, who travelled across the Pacific, to Hawaii, to marry men they had never seen, except in photographs. The depiction of turn of the century Hawaii is accurate. Life was hard for plantation workers (this being one of the very few jobs the unskilled could hope to have), and wages low, but many couples managed families, nonetheless.

The story concerns a picture bride who, after meeting the man she has promised herself to, realizes that he is much older than the picture he sent. What follows is the journey she takes, in understanding that things could have been much worse, and that she is lucky to have found such a good man.

The views of the island are absolutely beautiful! Vistas unsullied by asphalt, glass and steel. There are many children of those picture brides, like myself, who appreciate the making of this film. It is a tribute to those women, who, by taking those first steps into the unknown, made their lives, in Hawaii.