Come See the Paradise
Encyclopedia
Come See the Paradise is a 1990 film directed by Alan Parker
, starring Dennis Quaid
and Tamlyn Tomita
. Set before and during World War II
, the film depicts the treatment of Japanese people
in America
following the attack on Pearl Harbor
, and the subsequent loss of civil liberties
within the framework of a love story.
, involved in a campaign of harassment against non-union
theaters in New York City
. One such attack turns fatal, as one of his fellow union thugs starts a fire. McGurn's boss, knowing that the feelings of guilt would likely cause Jack to go to the police, urges him to leave the area. Jack moves to Los Angeles
where his brother Gerry lives. Jack's role as a "sweatshop
lawyer
" strains an already-rocky relationship with Gerry who is willing to have any job, barely keeping his family afloat during the Great Depression
.
Taking the name McGann, Jack finds a job as a projectionist (ironically
, non-union) in a movie theater run by a Japanese-American family. He falls in love with Lily (Tomita), his Japanese boss's daughter. Forbidden to see one another by her Issei
parents and banned from marrying by California
law, the couple elopes to Seattle, where they marry and have a daughter, Mini.
When World War II
breaks out, Lily and their daughter are caught up in the Japanese-American internment, rounded up and sent to Manzanar
. Jack, away on a trip, is drafted
into the United States Army
with no chance to help his family prepare for their imprisonment.
Finally visiting the camp, he arranges a private meeting with his wife's father, telling him that he has gone AWOL and wants to stay with them, whatever they have to go through. They are HIS family now and he belongs with them, but he's not sure what he should do. The older man counsels him to return to the Army, and says that he now believes that Jack is truly in love with his wife, and a worthy husband.
Returning, ready to face his punishment for desertion, he is met by FBI agents, who have identified "McGann" as being the McGurn wanted for his part in the arson of years before.
The story is told in flashback as Lily tells the now pre-adolescent Mini (King) about the father and the life that she barely remembers, as the two of them are walking to a rural train station. The train arrives and they reunite with Jack, who has served his time in prison and finally is returning to his family.
. Writer Alan Parker was unable to find the original poem and wrote his own poem before writing the script to try and say what the film would say:
gave it 3 stars.
Rotten Tomatoes
's rating was 67% with audience rating of 60%.
The film was entered into the 1990 Cannes Film Festival
.
The DVD version was released June 6, 2006 and included a 2-sided disc:
titled "Fire in a Brooklyn Theater" became an oft used musical cue
for the trailer
s of other films, including those for A Few Good Men
, Thirteen Days
, Clear and Present Danger
, Patriot Games
, The Sum of All Fears
and Devil In A Blue Dress
.
Alan Parker
Sir Alan William Parker, CBE is an English film director, producer, writer and actor. He has been active in both the British cinema and American cinema and was a founding member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain.-Life and career:...
, starring Dennis Quaid
Dennis Quaid
Dennis William Quaid is an American actor known for his comedic and dramatic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the 1980s, his career rebounded in the 1990s after he overcame an addiction to drugs and an eating disorder...
and Tamlyn Tomita
Tamlyn Tomita
Tamlyn Naomi Tomita is an actress, who has appeared in many Hollywood films and television series.-Early life:Tomita was born in Okinawa, the daughter of Shiro and Asako Tomita. Her father then later became a Los Angeles Police Officer, rising to the rank of sergeant. He succumbed to cancer in...
. Set before and during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the film depicts the treatment of Japanese people
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
in America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
following the attack on Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
, and the subsequent loss of civil liberties
Civil liberties
Civil liberties are rights and freedoms that provide an individual specific rights such as the freedom from slavery and forced labour, freedom from torture and death, the right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial, the right to defend one's self, the right to own and bear arms, the right...
within the framework of a love story.
Plot summary
In 1936, Jack McGurn (Quaid) is a motion picture projectionistProjectionist
A Projectionist is a person who operates a movie projector. In the strict sense of the term this means any movie projector and therefore could include someone who operates the projector in a home video show or school. In common usage the term is generally understood to describe a paid employee of...
, involved in a campaign of harassment against non-union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
theaters in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. One such attack turns fatal, as one of his fellow union thugs starts a fire. McGurn's boss, knowing that the feelings of guilt would likely cause Jack to go to the police, urges him to leave the area. Jack moves to Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
where his brother Gerry lives. Jack's role as a "sweatshop
Sweatshop
Sweatshop is a negatively connoted term for any working environment considered to be unacceptably difficult or dangerous. Sweatshop workers often work long hours for very low pay, regardless of laws mandating overtime pay or a minimum wage. Child labour laws may be violated. Sweatshops may have...
lawyer
Labour law
Labour law is the body of laws, administrative rulings, and precedents which address the legal rights of, and restrictions on, working people and their organizations. As such, it mediates many aspects of the relationship between trade unions, employers and employees...
" strains an already-rocky relationship with Gerry who is willing to have any job, barely keeping his family afloat during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
.
Taking the name McGann, Jack finds a job as a projectionist (ironically
Irony
Irony is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or situation in which there is a sharp incongruity or discordance that goes beyond the simple and evident intention of words or actions...
, non-union) in a movie theater run by a Japanese-American family. He falls in love with Lily (Tomita), his Japanese boss's daughter. Forbidden to see one another by her Issei
Issei
Issei is a Japanese language term used in countries in North America, South America and Australia to specify the Japanese people first to immigrate. Their children born in the new country are referred to as Nisei , and their grandchildren are Sansei...
parents and banned from marrying by California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
law, the couple elopes to Seattle, where they marry and have a daughter, Mini.
When World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
breaks out, Lily and their daughter are caught up in the Japanese-American internment, rounded up and sent to Manzanar
Manzanar
Manzanar is most widely known as the site of one of ten camps where over 110,000 Japanese Americans were imprisoned during World War II. Located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada in California's Owens Valley between the towns of Lone Pine to the south and Independence to the north, it is...
. Jack, away on a trip, is drafted
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
into the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
with no chance to help his family prepare for their imprisonment.
Finally visiting the camp, he arranges a private meeting with his wife's father, telling him that he has gone AWOL and wants to stay with them, whatever they have to go through. They are HIS family now and he belongs with them, but he's not sure what he should do. The older man counsels him to return to the Army, and says that he now believes that Jack is truly in love with his wife, and a worthy husband.
Returning, ready to face his punishment for desertion, he is met by FBI agents, who have identified "McGann" as being the McGurn wanted for his part in the arson of years before.
The story is told in flashback as Lily tells the now pre-adolescent Mini (King) about the father and the life that she barely remembers, as the two of them are walking to a rural train station. The train arrives and they reunite with Jack, who has served his time in prison and finally is returning to his family.
Title
The title of the movie came from a line of a poem by Russian poet Anna AkhmatovaAnna Akhmatova
Anna Andreyevna Gorenko , better known by the pen name Anna Akhmatova , was a Russian and Soviet modernist poet, one of the most acclaimed writers in the Russian canon.Harrington p11...
. Writer Alan Parker was unable to find the original poem and wrote his own poem before writing the script to try and say what the film would say:
Cast
- Dennis QuaidDennis QuaidDennis William Quaid is an American actor known for his comedic and dramatic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the 1980s, his career rebounded in the 1990s after he overcame an addiction to drugs and an eating disorder...
- Jack McGurn - Tamlyn TomitaTamlyn TomitaTamlyn Naomi Tomita is an actress, who has appeared in many Hollywood films and television series.-Early life:Tomita was born in Okinawa, the daughter of Shiro and Asako Tomita. Her father then later became a Los Angeles Police Officer, rising to the rank of sergeant. He succumbed to cancer in...
- Lily Yuriko Kawamura / McGann - Sab ShimonoSab ShimonoSab Shimono is an American actor who has appeared in dozens of movies and television shows in character roles.-Career:An accomplished stage actor, he has appeared on Broadway and in regional theaters including San Francisco's American Conservatory Theatre and Berkeley Repertory Theatre...
- Hiroshi Kawamura - Shizuko HoshiShizuko HoshiShizuko Hoshi is an American actress and theatre director living in Southern California. She is a graduate of Tokyo Women's College and University of Southern California...
- Mrs. Kawamura - Stan Egi - Charlie Kawamura
- Ronald Yamamoto - Harry Kawamura
- Akemi Nishino - Dulcie Kawamura
- Naomi Nakano - Joyce Kawamura
- Brady Tsurutani - Frankie Kawamura
- Elizabeth Gilliam - Younger Mini McGann
- Shyree Mezick - Middle Mini McGann
- Caroline Junko KingCaroline Junko KingCaroline Junko King is a former child actress most notable for her appearance as Miyo in 3 Ninjas Kick Back and in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Rascals".-Filmography:* 3 Ninjas Kick Back ... as Miyo...
- Older Mini McGann - Pruitt Taylor VincePruitt Taylor VincePruitt Taylor Vince is an American award-winning character actor who has made many appearances in film and television.-Personal life:Vince was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana...
- Augie Farrell - Colm MeaneyColm MeaneyColm J. Meaney is an Irish actor widely known for playing Miles O'Brien in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He is second only to Michael Dorn in most appearances in Star Trek episodes. He has guest-starred on many TV shows from Law & Order to The Simpsons...
- Gerry McGurn - Becky Ann BakerBecky Ann BakerBecky Ann Baker is an American actress who is perhaps best known for her portrayal of Jean Weir on NBC's Emmy Award-winning Freaks and Geeks.-Early life:Baker was born Becky Gelke in Fort Knox, Kentucky...
- Marge McGurn
Reviews
Roger EbertRoger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave it 3 stars.
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
's rating was 67% with audience rating of 60%.
The film was entered into the 1990 Cannes Film Festival
1990 Cannes Film Festival
- Jury :*Bernardo Bertolucci *Alexei Guerman *Anjelica Huston *Bertrand Blier *Christopher Hampton*Fanny Ardant *Françoise Giroud *Hayao Shibata *Mira Nair *Sven Nykvist...
.
Home video
The VHS tape version was released March 12, 1992.The DVD version was released June 6, 2006 and included a 2-sided disc:
- Side A: Movie, audio commentary by writer/director Sir Art Parker
- Side B: Images of Come See the Paradise featurette, The Making of the Film essay by Sir Art Parker, Rabbit in the Moon 1999 documentary, theatrical trailers
Soundtrack Usage
A track from the film's score by Randy EdelmanRandy Edelman
Randy Edelman is an American film and TV score composer.-Life and career:Edelman was born in Paterson, New Jersey. He was raised in Teaneck, New Jersey, the son of a first-grade teacher and an accountant. He attended the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music before heading to New York where he played...
titled "Fire in a Brooklyn Theater" became an oft used musical cue
Musical cue
A musical cue is where another instrument's music is shown on a piece of music. It is up to the performer or the conductor on whether the section should play it. A cue may also function as a guideline for another instrument for improvisation or if there are many bars rest to help the performer find...
for the trailer
Trailer (film)
A trailer or preview is an advertisement or a commercial for a feature film that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema. The term "trailer" comes from their having originally been shown at the end of a feature film screening. That practice did not last long, because patrons tended to leave the...
s of other films, including those for A Few Good Men
A Few Good Men (film)
A Few Good Men is a 1992 drama film directed by Rob Reiner and starring Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, and Demi Moore. It was adapted for the screen by Aaron Sorkin from his play of the same name. A courtroom drama, the film revolves around the trial of two U.S...
, Thirteen Days
Thirteen Days
"Thirteen Days" is often used to denote the period of the Cuban missile crisis.Thirteen Days is also the title of:* Thirteen Days , a 1969 memoir by Robert F. Kennedy of the crisis...
, Clear and Present Danger
Clear and Present Danger (film)
Clear and Present Danger is a 1994 film directed by Phillip Noyce, based on the book of the same name by Tom Clancy. It is a subsequent release to the 1992 film Patriot Games, which in itself is a subsequent release to the 1990 film The Hunt for Red October.It is the last film to feature Harrison...
, Patriot Games
Patriot Games (film)
Patriot Games is a 1992 film directed by Phillip Noyce and based on Tom Clancy's the novel of the same name. It is a sequel to the 1990 film The Hunt for Red October. In the movie, Jack Ryan is played by Harrison Ford, Jack's surgeon-wife, Dr...
, The Sum of All Fears
The Sum of All Fears (film)
The Sum of All Fears is a 2002 American action film/political thriller directed by Phil Alden Robinson and based on the novel The Sum of All Fears by Tom Clancy...
and Devil In A Blue Dress
Devil in a Blue Dress (film)
Devil in a Blue Dress is a 1995 American neo-noir film directed by Carl Franklin and photographed by Tak Fujimoto.The film was based on Walter Mosley's novel of the same name, was executive produced by Jonathan Demme, and starred Denzel Washington, Tom Sizemore, Jennifer Beals, and Don Cheadle.In...
.