- American Pastime (2007)
- As in Come See the Paradise, this movie follows the Nomura family from their Los Angeles home into internment. Director Desmond Nakano uses actual scenes from the evacuation as well as historic footage from the Topaz War Relocation Center that was filmed using a camera smuggled into the camp by internee Dave Tatsuno. This film explores the definition of patriotism; the American-born Nisei set out to prove themselves as American as the Caucasian guards who judge them by race through enlistment and through the great American pastime of baseball. Come See the Paradise has many parallels with this movie, though this film spends more time detailing the racial hatred that the Issei and Nisei suffered during internment. The effective use of actual historic footage lends credence to this story that is based on true events, giving the viewer a better perspective of what was endured during those terrible years.
- Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
- One of the first films after World War II to address the severity of Japanese discrimination also manages to eliminate any Japanese actors. This film’s main themes focus on civic responsibility and group conformity and complacency, two themes that are predominant in Come See the Paradise. The odd part about this film is that rather than showing the persecution of the only Japanese character in the film, the character is only referenced through the all-white cast, including Spencer Tracy, the hero who has come to honor a fallen friend and discovers that murder has been done. Come See the Paradise examines this same racial bias from a group perspective, which may not have yet been possible, or welcome, in post-war America in 1955. Bad Day at Black Rock is an excellent film that covers the ramifications of blind racial hatred but doesn’t do much to extend the viewer’s knowledge of the plight of the Japanese Americans during or after the war.
- Farewell to Manzanar. Dir. John Korty. Perf. Yuki Shimoda, Nobu McCarthy, Dori Takeshita, Akemi Kikumura, Clyde Kasatsu, Mako, Pat Morita. Universal Studios, 1976.
- Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston's written memoir of the same title is brought to life in this autobiographical documentary of the Wakatsuki family's experience in America after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. From the bombing until their release, Houston's parents and siblings endure racism, slander, incarceration, violence, and death as they struggle to understand why America no longer wants to see them as Americans. Many parallels between Farewell to Manzanar and Come See The Paradise will be noticed: the father, accused of being a traitor, held captive in Fort Lincoln; breaking household items rather than selling them for far less than they are worth; an eldest son who tries to be an exemplary American, and an angry second son who wants to rebel against incarceration; a riot in the camp that is caused by soldiers stealing the provisions meant for the internees; the gradual decline of a once-respected father. These and more comparisons are evident, causing the watcher to wonder if Alan Parker gleaned most of his story ideas from this film and Houston's autobiography.
- Snow Falling on Cedars (1999)
- Based on a best-selling novel, this film is similar in content to Bad Day at Black Rock in that it explores a town’s post-war racially motivated actions. Also similar is the movie’s hero, Ethan Hawke’s character Ishmael Chambers, the local reporter who lost an arm serving in the war; Spencer Tracy’s Macreedy also lost an arm in the war. The film demonstrates the lack of justice served to a member of its community based on bias and hatred, which can be compared to the lack of global justice served to an entire people in Come See the Paradise. Snow Falling on Cedars also uses a Caucasian hero who is able to overlook communal bigotry; it’s this hero who saves the day for the Japanese American who is wrongly accused of murder. Like Bad Day at Black Rock, Snow Falling on Cedars is an excellent film to explore the continued racial bias after World War II, but it doesn’t help further our knowledge of historic events.
See Also
G. Men vs. The Black Dragon (1943)
