All the interviews revolve around that one central point: The mark that Pat Morita left on people’s lives is a legacy of kindness, and More than Miyagi is a testament to that. In spite of his issues with alcoholism, everyone talks about what a kind and gentle person he was. There a joys and defeats, happiness and sorrow, but in the long run Morita left his mark. It is the story of a very human person’s life. There isn’t much by way of rising and falling action in this movie. After five auditions he landed the most pivotal part of his life, the part that would earn him an Academy Award, and the part that would pigeon hole him again. Miyagi, Morita had to really prove that he had the acting chops to play a character that wasn’t a goof on his own race. Originally passed over for the part of Mr. Through his work in television he was proving himself a competent actor (even getting his on sitcom briefly) but the typecasting that he had experienced in his early television career kept him pigeonholed. Soon he found himself on television variety shows (which there is incredible archival footage of), and then on the sitcom Happy Days. Starting with stand up, and billed as “The Hip Nip,” he found ways to work around the racism that surrounded him by using self effacing humor and not being afraid to play into and against stereotypes. That discrimination became a jumping off point for a life in comedy and acting. After the war his parents opened a Chinese restaurant for two reasons, first because Chinese food was more popular than Japanese food, but also to avoid the discrimination that the Japanese faced after the war. Spending nine years in the hospital, he was transported as a child to an internment camp for the Japanese during World War II. Deep inside that sweet, generous, multi-talented performer seethed an army of. Tracing his journey from being bed bound as a boy to the bright lights and discrimination in Hollywood. Miyagi, left behind a painfully revealing autobiographical record of his much-too-brief time here on earth. His early life was plagued with an illness that made it so he couldn’t walk for years. The Oscar nominated actor best known for his role of Mr.

He is show as a man that was happy, that wanted to be the life of the party, who cared about his family, but who couldn’t conquer his addiction to alcohol. Featuring interviews, with friends, families, costars and himself, the portrait that is drawn of Morita is kind if some what bittersweet.

In this documentary, lovingly finished, by Morita’s wife we get to learn about his past, the ups, and the downs of his career. His poignant story of military service, and personal loss perpetuated by the country that he served. His gentle, but grumpy grandpa way of teaching karate. There is no way to deny the power that Pat Morita’s portrayal of the humble karate sensei is one of the most recognizable characters from the 80’s. More than Miyagi: The Pat Morita Story – 2021

More than miyagi