Dirk Bogarde learns Japanese and falls for his teacher—while WWII says 'absolutely not, sir.'
A British officer falls in love with his Japanese instructor at a military language school. They start a romance, but she is regarded as the enemy and is not accepted by his countrymen.
Acting
Bogarde's restrained longing—British stiff upper lip, wobbling.
Production
Pinewood Studios India: charmingly unconvincing, deeply committed.
Director
Ralph Thomas
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Richard Mason adapted his own novel; he'd been a Japanese POW and actually learned the language in captivity, making this uncomfortably autobiographical.
Yoko Tani, actually French-Japanese, was one of few Asian leads in 1950s British cinema—though the film still frames her through Quinn's colonial gaze.
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