''Come See the Paradise'' is a 1990 American

historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

written and directed by

Alan Parker Sir Alan William Parker (14 February 1944 – 31 July 2020) was an English film director, screenwriter and producer. His early career, beginning in his late teens, was spent as a copywriter and director of television advertisements. After abo ...

, and starring

Dennis Quaid Dennis William Quaid (born April 9, 1954) is an American actor. He is known for his starring roles in '' Breaking Away'' (1979), '' The Right Stuff'' (1983), '' The Big Easy'' (1986), '' Innerspace'' (1987), '' Great Balls of Fire!'' (1989), ' ...

and Tamlyn Tomita. Set before and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the film depicts the treatment of

Japanese American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian Americans, Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 United States census, 2000 census, they have declined in ...

s in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

following the attack on

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

, and the subsequent loss of

civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties of ...

within the framework of a love story.

Plot

In the early 1950s, Lily Kawamura tells her pre-adolescent daughter Mini about her father and the life that she barely remembers, as the two of them are walking to a rural train station. In 1936, Jack McGurn is a

motion picture A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, since ...

projectionist A projectionist is a person who operates a movie projector, particularly as an employee of a movie theater. Projectionists are also known as "operators". Historical background N.B. The dates given in the subject headings are approximate. Early ...

, involved in a campaign of harassment against non- union theaters in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. One such attack turns fatal, as one of his fellow union members 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 city. Jack moves to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

where his brother Gerry lives. Jack's role as a "

sweatshop A sweatshop or sweat factory is a cramped workplace with very poor and/or illegal working conditions, including little to no breaks, inadequate work space, insufficient lighting and ventilation, or uncomfortably or dangerously high or low temperat ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

" strains an already-rocky relationship with Gerry who is willing to have any job, barely keeping his family afloat during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. Taking the name McGann, Jack finds a job as a non-union projectionist in a movie theater run by a

family by the name of Kawamura. He falls in love with Lily, his boss' daughter. Forbidden to see one another by her

Issei are Japanese immigrants to countries in North America and South America. The term is used mostly by ethnic Japanese. are born in Japan; their children born in the new country are (, "two", plus , "generation"); and their grandchildren are ...

parents and banned from marrying by

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

law, the couple elopes to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, where they marry and have a daughter, Mini. When

breaks out, Lily and their daughter are caught up in the

Japanese American internment During World War II, the United States forcibly relocated and incarcerated about 120,000 people of Japanese descent in ten concentration camps operated by the War Relocation Authority (WRA), mostly in the western interior of the country. Abou ...

, rounded up and sent to

Manzanar Manzanar is the site of one of ten American concentration camps, where more than 120,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II from March 1942 to November 1945. Although it had over 10,000 inmates at its peak, it was one ...

, California. Jack, away on a trip, is drafted into the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

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 Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave (AWOL ), which ...

and wants to stay with them, whatever they have to go through. They are ''his'' family now and he belongs with them. The older man counsels him to return to the Army, and says that he now believes that Jack is truly in love with Lily, 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. Finally, in the 1950s, the train arrives and Lily and Mini reunite with Jack, who has served his time in prison and is now returning to his family.

Title

The title of the film is inspired by a line of the short poem ''"I Hear The Oriole's Always-Grieving Voice"'' by Russian poet

Anna Akhmatova Anna Andreyevna Gorenko rus, А́нна Андре́евна Горе́нко, p=ˈanːə ɐnˈdrʲe(j)ɪvnə ɡɐˈrʲɛnkə, a=Anna Andreyevna Gorenko.ru.oga, links=yes; , . ( – 5 March 1966), better known by the pen name Anna Akhmatova,. ...

, which ends with the following lines: Writer Alan Parker was unable to locate Akhmatova's original poem and wrote his own poem before writing the script to try and say what the film would say:

Cast

Reception

On review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film has a 'fresh' 64% rating based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 5.5/10. Noted ''

Chicago Sun Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' critic

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

gave it 3 stars out of 4 and wrote that "''Come See the Paradise'' is a fable to remind us of how easily we can surrender our liberties, and how much we need them." The film was entered into the 1990 Cannes Film Festival.

Awards and nominations

Legacy

A 2014 study by Gabriel Rossman and Oliver Schilke, two sociologists at the

University of California at Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the Ca ...

(UCLA), identified ''Come See the Paradise'' as the most deliberate example of

Oscar bait Oscar bait is a term used in the film community for movies that appear to have been produced for the sole purpose of earning nominations and/or winners for Academy Awards, or "Oscars", as they are commonly known. They are usually released just in a ...

in their study of 3,000 films released since 1985. The identification is based on various elements calculated to be likely to draw Oscar nominations, including the previous nominations of Parker, the film's setting in Hollywood (including Quaid's projectionist character), and its depiction of a tragic historical event against the background of war and

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

. It was only released in a few cities during the last week of that year to make it eligible for the awards. However, it was not nominated for any Oscars and failed at the box office.

Home video releases

The VHS tape was released June 12, 1991. The DVD version was released June 6, 2006 and included a 2-sided disc: *Side A: Movie, audio commentary by writer/director Sir Alan Parker *Side B: ''Images of Come See the Paradise'' featurette, ''The Making of the Film'' essay by Sir Alan Parker, ''Rabbit in the Moon'' 1999 documentary, theatrical trailers The film made its

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

debut in November 2012 in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Soundtrack legacy

The film's

score SCORE may refer to: *SCORE (software), a music scorewriter program * SCORE (television), a weekend sports service of the defunct Financial News Network *SCORE! Educational Centers *SCORE International, an offroad racing organization *Sarawak Corrido ...

Randy Edelman Randy Edelman (born June 10, 1947) is an American musician, Record producer, producer, and composer and Conducting, conductor for Film score, film and television. He began his career as a member of Broadway theatre, Broadway's pit orchestras; he ...

became oft used for musical cues in the trailers of other films, including those for ''

A Few Good Men ''A Few Good Men'' is a 1992 American legal drama film based on Aaron Sorkin's 1989 play, produced by Castle Rock Entertainment, financed and distributed by Columbia Pictures. It was written by Sorkin, directed by Rob Reiner, and produced ...

'', '' Thirteen Days'', ''

Clear and Present Danger ''Clear and Present Danger'' is a political thriller novel, written by Tom Clancy and published on August 17, 1989. A sequel to '' The Cardinal of the Kremlin'' (1988), main character Jack Ryan becomes acting Deputy Director of Intelligence i ...

'', ''

Patriot Games ''Patriot Games'' is a thriller novel, written by Tom Clancy and published in July 1987. '' Without Remorse'', released six years later, is an indirect prequel, and it is chronologically the first book featuring Jack Ryan, the main character ...

'', ''

The Sum of All Fears ''The Sum of All Fears'' is a political thriller novel, written by Tom Clancy and released on August 14, 1991, as the sequel to '' Clear and Present Danger'' (1989). Main character Jack Ryan, who is now the Deputy Director of Central Intellig ...

'', '' Devil In A Blue Dress'', '' Rob Roy'', '' The Chamber'', ''

Instinct Instinct is the inherent inclination of a living organism towards a particular complex behaviour, containing innate (inborn) elements. The simplest example of an instinctive behaviour is a fixed action pattern (FAP), in which a very short to me ...

'', and '' Cry, The Beloved Country''.Soundtrack.net
/ref>

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Come See The Paradise 1990 films 1990 romantic drama films 1990s war drama films 20th Century Fox films American romantic drama films American war drama films Films about Japanese Americans Films about the internment of Japanese Americans 1990s Japanese-language films 1990s English-language films Films directed by Alan Parker Films set in the 1930s Films set in the 1940s Films set in a movie theatre Films set in Inyo County, California Films set in Los Angeles Films set in New York City Films set in Seattle Films shot in Washington (state) Films set in Washington (state) Films set in Oregon Films shot in Oregon Films shot in Seattle Films shot in Astoria, Oregon Films shot in Portland, Oregon Films about interracial romance Films with screenplays by Alan Parker Films scored by Randy Edelman Japan in non-Japanese culture Asian-American drama films 1990s American films English-language romantic drama films English-language war drama films English-language war romance films