Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on January 2010

This film, an international collaboration with director Korean John H. Lee, serves as the comeback vehicle for talented actress Miho Nakayama. Unfortunately, the script is so weak and the tear-jerking so ham-fisted that the project is a total failure. Set in 1975, Sayonara Itsuka follows Yutaka (Hidetoshi Nishijima), a Japanese businessman who is engaged to the lovely and sweet Mitsuko (Yuriko Ishida). After being transferred to Bangkok to set up the offices of a new airline, he’s seduced by the sultry and sexy Toko (Nakayama). While the leads do have some chemistry, Toko is so aloof and superior that it’s hard to believe Yutaka sees their encounter as any more than a fling. After returning to Tokyo, he marries Mitsuko, becomes a successful executive, and raises a family. So when the film cuts 25 years in the future and Yutaka turns up in Bangkok looking for Toko, the viewer is appalled by the thick melodrama and cheap sentimental appeal. This one falls squarely in the “What were they thinking?” category.