PICTURE BRIDE
A film review by Ben Hoffman
Copyright 1995 Ben Hoffman
This is a love story quite unlike others. In 1918, sixteen-year-old and beautiful Riyo (Youki Kudoh), an orphan is coaxed into leaving Japan to marry a Japanese sugar cane worker in Hawaii after an exchange of photos. As we learn, both her parents died some years ago of tuberculosis, a contagious disease. Riyo's life with her well-meaning aunt was miserable because the parents of her schoolmates forbade their playing with her for fear of catching the illness. Going to Hawaii, far away from Japan, no one would know the shame she had felt about her parents' illness. Riyo, herself, is healthy.
Arriving at immigration in Hawaii, she is introduced to her prospective husband who has paid her fare. Royo looks at him and at the photo and says, "There must be some mistake. This is not the man in the photo." He, Matsuji (Akira Takayama), sheepishly explains that it is indeed he but it was the most recent photo he could find. He is now 43.
There is no turning back to Japan as Riyo does not have any money. Next day she is out in the cane fields working away with other Japanese and Filipinas. At the shack that is her home, she will not allow her husband, Matsuji, to touch her. She decides to work twice as hard, save her money and return to Japan. Things do not work out that way.
The film portrays the life of the sugar cane workers who were led to believe they would one day return to their homeland ... but never did; the "Simon Legree" on horseback with his whip, as he rides up and down the furrows spurring on the workers. And it tells about Riyo's friendship with Kana (Tamlyn Tomita) another woman worker who shows her how to do laundry for the workers, after her own day is done, so she can save more money for the trip home that never happens. Some 20,000 of these "picture brides" came from Japan, and many came from Korea and Okinawa in the first twenty years of the 20th century. Nevertheless, this is a love story and a lovely one at that.
Toshiro Mishune appears in a film about Samurai warriors that is shown to the workers.
Tamlyn Tomita appeared in THE JOY LUCK CLUB, KARATE KID II, and in many TV shows.
The film is approximately divided between spoken English and Japanese with Japanese subtitles for the spoken Japanese.
Director/Writer is Kayo Hatta.
Co-Writer is Mari Hatta.
4 bytes 4 Bytes = Superb 3 Bytes = Too good to be missed. 2 Bytes = So so. 1 Byte = Save your money.
Ben Hoffman
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