The Barbarian and the Geisha

• Directed by John Huston
• September 30, 1958

Townsend Harris is sent to Japan to establish diplomatic relations with the Tokugawa shogunate and falls for a young geisha.

John Wayne stars in The Barbarian and the Geisha, a historical romance based on the story of the first American Consul General in Japan. As I stated numerous times movies such as this should be the starting point to learn and not the end of your learning about history. After all these are Hollywood presentations and facts are secondary.

The Barbarian and the Geisha is a bit of an unusual film for John Wayne who stars as the real-life figure of Townsend Harris. His performance is much more restrained than in much of his other work. While he is the manliest man in the movie, he does not use his fists to solve any problem. And it does not hurt that much of his screen persona fits into the stereotype of the American making him the embodiment of the US abroad. It creates for an engaging character.

Important to this film is the romance between Harris and his housekeeper Okichi (Eiko Ando). In real life she apparently only worked for him for about three days before being fired though a myth in Japan built up around her. In this version of reality though they do not go too strongly into one element. It is implied Okichi was sent there as basically a spy and sleep with him. Then again, in the time this was made saying that a female character is being offered up for sexual purposes would’ve been nearly impossible.

I thought Eiko Ando was a bit too reserved in her performance. I understand what she was going for, but even in the scenes between her and Wayne she kind of fades away. Wayne had a very significant screen presence and it tended to overwhelm her. Miscast? No but she needed to be more forceful.

My favorite relationship of the whole film was between Harris and Governor Tamura (Sō Yamamura). It was just rather well written and generally well done. Both performers were great with each other. As characters both were very strong-willed with obviously Harris’s will winning out. But Tamura didn’t blindly hate him. He mistrusted him, but as the story went along it seemed as if he came around to not viewing him with mistrust, but just perhaps fearing change more than anything before Harris eventually earned his respect. After all Japan has maintained stability for 200 years here without letting in the outside world.

Sam Jaffe’s appearance as Harris’s translator Henry Heusken is a bit of a shock to me and may have more to do with the individual than anything else. Why? Wayne was a big star back in the day with no love for communists and Jaffe was blacklisted. It would be logical for someone of Wayne’s beliefs and star power to block Jaffe’s cast but he did not.

The film is strongest when it’s not focusing on romance, but rather on other events such as the desperate sailors who bring cholera to the village Harris resides in. From the initial landing all the way to making it to the shogun I found those bits so much more engaging. The Barbarian and the Geisha was held back with the love story.

This film was shot entirely in Japan and certainly benefits from that. From creating a sense of authenticity using Japanese actors as well as actual locations of the nation, I can certainly suspend my disbelief easily at points.

Though I have not seen it in years, this reminds me of the 1980 miniseries Shōgun. I know the plots are vastly different but in broad strokes there are similarities. I certainly need to reacquaint myself with it but from the romantic angle what was attempted here was perfected there.

The Barbarian and the Geisha is a good film that’s also a little unique for the characters that John Wayne normally played. It is helmed by a legendary director and aside from the issues I have with the romantic plot not a bad movie. I think it will appeal more to the general Wayne fan as well as somebody looking for a bit more artistry in a film.