Come See the Paradise

Come See the Paradise
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Alan Parker
Produced by	Robert F. Colesberry Nellie Nugiel
Written by	Alan Parker
Starring	Dennis Quaid Tamlyn Tomita Sab Shimono Shizuko Hoshi Stan Egi
Music by	Randy Edelman
Cinematography	Michael Seresin
Editing by	Gerry Hambling
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	December 23, 1990
Running time	138 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English some dialogue in Japanese

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.

Plot summary

In 1936, Jack McGurn (Quaid) is a motion picture projectionist, 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.

Title

The title of the movie came from a line of a poem by Russian poet Anna Akhmatova. 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:^[1]

We all dream our American dreams
When we're awake and when we sleep
So much hope that grief belies
Far beyond the lies and sighs
Because dreams are free
And so are we

Come See the Paradise

Cast

• Dennis Quaid - Jack McGurn
• Tamlyn Tomita - Lily Yuriko Kawamura / McGann
• Sab Shimono - Hiroshi Kawamura
• Shizuko Hoshi - 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 King - Older Mini McGann
• Pruitt Taylor Vince - Augie Farrell
• Colm Meaney - Gerry McGurn
• Becky Ann Baker - Marge McGurn

Reviews

Roger Ebert gave it 3 stars.^[2] Rotten Tomatoes's rating was 67% with audience rating of 60%.^[3]

The film was entered into the 1990 Cannes Film Festival.^[4]

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,^[5] theatrical trailers

Soundtrack Usage

A track from the film's score by Randy Edelman titled "Fire in a Brooklyn Theater" became an oft used musical cue for the trailers 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 .^[6]

References

1. ^ From the DVD - The Making of the Film, Last Words, essay by Sir Alan Parker.
2. ^ Ebert, Roger; Chicago Sun-Times (1991-01-18). "Come See The Paradise". http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19910118/REVIEWS/101180301/1023. 
3. ^ Come See The Paradise at Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2011-01-02
4. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Come See the Paradise". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/169/year/1990.html. Retrieved 2009-08-04. 
5. ^ Rabbit in the Moon P.O.V.. Rabbit in the Moon at the Internet Movie Database
6. ^ http://www.soundtrack.net/trailers/

External links

• Come See The Paradise at the Internet Movie Database
• Come See The Paradise at AllRovi