Funai's character makes no sense

It seems Helen Funai is half-japanese, so at least the asian ethnicity in this movie was correct, which is really remarkable for a hollywood movie made in 1966!

I mean, hollywood back then didn't care much about the actual ethnicity about an actor, when casting someone as chinese, japanese, hawaiian or whatnot, you still see all kinds of people even in the eighties playing japanese (*Gung Ho*), sorry, just clearing my throat for all this typing.

Now, another compliment I would like to extend to something even modern Austin Powers-movies couldn't get right, is the correct pronunciation of japanese words. It's actually surprising, how well they both say 'ohayou gozaimasu'.

However, the verbal exchange is not natural, it's as hollywood as it gets. I mean, when japanese use that greeting, it sounds more natural, the intonation is different, and when they are in that kind of hierarchical positions as Flint and his 'lovely assistants' are, at least Funai's character would DEFINITELY use a honorific.

No one uses a honorific, the discussion isn't extended to anything like 'Ogenki desu ka?' or even talking about the weather, the conversation simply stops and Funai's character turns dramatically and simply stares at the government guy, even though the viewer could expect her to extend the 'ohayou gozaimasu' also to him.

The super deep bow later on is also VERY weird, considering how she DOES NOT USE HONORIFICS. Talk about contradiction!

So their japanese pronunciation is very good (very rare in hollywood movies), but everything else is just complete contrast to that, as if the 'japanese cultural advisor' knew only how to pronounce words, but nothing more, not even intonation.

Also, 'ohayou gozaimasu' is relatively formal, compared to what the french woman said 'bonjour, mon cheri', so to mimic a similar 'good morning', Funai's character could've dropped the 'gozaimasu' and used an endearing honorific, like 'chan' (which might've been a bit too much, but hey, it's a comedy, isn't it? Isn't it..??)

In any case, I am both impressed and apalled at this weird look into how hollyweird saw japanese culture back then. Those outfits are certainly more resembling some exaggerated and stylized ancient chinese wardrobes (or peacedrobes?), but of course her wearing a kimono or even yukata might've been too 'on-the-nose' as well.

Too bad these sixties-movies have to be so boring and cast someone so stuffy and wooden in the main part instead of someone more watchable, like Maxwell Smart (I can't remember the actor's name, but I didn't want to call him Inspector Gadget). A comedy requires a comedic lead, not a wooden and stuffy one.

The moment I saw him, and then proceeded to cringe at his awful 'supposed-karate-but-no-one-knows-what-that-crap-was'-performance, all my hopes sank and my heart locked itself into a closet where it won't come out until I watch something genuinely japanese.

This movie is just another one of those wooden, failed comedies that are not very funny, take forever for anything interesting to happen, and then proceed to crank the gears to bore you even more powerfully and effectively.

I guess I am a bit biased, as there are some actors that I just can't stomach, and this guy is one of them, I just can't watch him in a role where everyone is supposed to dote and admire him, and watching Funai's character empty-stare him so much just makes the cringe almost heartbreaking. Thank goodness my heart was locked away.