My 600th Review! SHOGUN

Shogun (1980) Directed by Jerry London from the Novel by James Clavell.

Roots is the definitive mini-series.  However, a close second has to be the epic Shogun, featuring the adventures of Pilot-Major John Blackthorne, (Richard Chamberlain) an English pilot aboard the Dutch ship Erasmus, first of that nationality to reach the Japan's via the Straits of Magellan and across the Pacific.

Set in the 1600's Blackthorne and the survivors of the Erasmus faced countless horrors in the crossing of the Pacific, not the least of which was the actual landing in the Japans.  The Dutch are immediately seized by the local samurai and held captive until they could find a translator to interogate them.  The translator Father Sebastio (Leon Lissek) is a saffron clad Jesuit, and blatantly hostile to the prisoners.  Remember, the Jesuits, Catholics out of Portugal, were at war with the Dutch and the English, Protestants both.

Realizing that his words will be twisted and lies said in his name, Blackthorne tries a desperate gamble.  He seizes the Priest's rosary and stamps upon it, telling the Samurai in charge, Omi (Meguro Yuki) that he and the Jesuit are enemies.  Omi spots an opportunity; the Jesuits control the silk trade with China; the strangers could represent a tool against that monopoly.  At any rate, he decides this is above his pay grade, and informs his uncle, the Daimyo (Governor) Yabu (Sakai Frankie), as fat and corrupt a politician as have ever carried two swords.  This corpulent killer quickly educates them in exactly how much power and freedom they have, by boiling one of them as an example to the others.  As important to Blackthorne's education is the fate of one of the warriors who failed to control them, and his willing suicide.  However as Yabu is planning his meteoric rise to power, built on the pirate ship Erasmus and her guns, his plans are ruined by the arrival of a ship from the real power....Toranaga (Mifune Toshiro). 

All the maneuvering of course is lost on the Europeans, due to the language barrier.  (In an interesting side note, they chose not to subtitle the production, unless it was a Japanese only conversation.  If a European was present, the audience knew no more of what was being said than the character.)

However, alone among the Westerners Blackthorne realizes the importance of understanding their captors.  And the more he learns, the more his position improves.  Case in point.  The Japanese cannot pronounce his name (having both L and R sounds, and their consonant is at best an imperfect blend of both) so they will address him as Anjin which means pilot, in the tradition of profession names.  However, the first time Omi refers to him as "Anjin", he sharply insists "Anjin-san", demanding the honorific, as Omi had done to him.  The lesson is not lost, and his status and treatment improves.

Anjin-san's understanding of Japanese language and culture improves as well, largely due to the efforts of Lady Toda Buntaro Mariko (Shimada Yoko).  A Christian follower of Lord Toranaga, she serves as his interpreter.  She is also a powerful lure for Pilot Major Blackthorne, beautiful, cultured and intelligent.

As Blackthorne moves through Japanese society, his knowledge increases, and he grows ever closer to his captors, and ever further from his own men.  When Yabu Sama places the responsibility on the village for Anjin-san to learn Japanese, upon pain of their collective death, Anjin-san makes his stand, and asks that the burden be lifted.  When he is refused, he deals with it in a very Japanese way, by demanding the right to commit seppuku.  Yabu does not think he will carry through...fortunately Omi is close enough to save him.  And from that moment of absolute purpose and clarity of vision, Anjin-san is reborn, something different, no longer English, and much closer to Japanese.

The kingdom is divided into many opposing forces; the forces of Lord Toranaga are counter balanced by the forces of Lord Ishida (Kaneko Nabuo) another Daimyo struggling for the title Shogun.  The forces of the Japanese dance a delicate balance with the Jesuits.  Their Black Ship brings all silk from China into Japan.  The Japanese have to tolerate their presence if they want kimonos to withstand the oppressive heat of summer.  But the Jesuits drive a wedge into the homogeneous culture with each Christian convert.  And then there is Anjin-san and the crew of the Erasmus.  If Toranaga allows him to pirate the Black Ship, a powerful blow is struck against the Spanish-Portuguese (Catholic) alliance.  And Toranaga intends to use Anjin-san to good effect.

Dutch ship building meets Japanese devotion, fire arms meet katanas in a battle of vastly different cultures.  Anjin-san finds himself battling in a world backwards technologically, but far more civilized.  He is drawn into a web of shifting alliances, unbreakable duty, and the code of bushido, where love is secondary to loyalty, and where happiness must be stolen.

Anjin-san learns to plot and scheme, to use his unique insights and threats to buy safety, of a sort, for himself and his men.  He learns the beauty of a culture old while his ancestors were painting themselves blue, and finds a forbidden love for which he would sacrifice all.  And he finds a man worthy of his loyalty.  On the far side of the world, he finally finds a world that can challenge him as much as he challenges it.

The Analysis

This is a remarkable achievement.  Shogun is far too grand a story to fit within the confines of a movie.  This is the perfect medium for it, the only one large enough.

And it was remarkably well done; the story was there; as vibrant and compelling as the real history of Japan.  Now they just had to bring it to life.  And they did.  Many of the scenes were shot on location at the historic castles of Japan; others were sets, meticulously crafted.  And the costumes!  They won the Emmy, and they earned it.  An exotic world, four hundred years gone, is reborn.

And the people who populate it are equally adept at recreating the past.  One of the more controversial decisions was not to subtitle the spoken Japanese if Blackthorne was in the shot.  It created a few contrived scenes where things were conveniently explained, but overall, it added a certain veritas to the proceedings.  You understood as much as Anjin-san, and therefore felt more connected to him.

The quality of the acting is excellent; Richard Chamberlain is intense, but intelligent, and very, very sexy.  Shimida Yoko is delicate, but strong, and quite lovely.  Her sweet little lisp was enchanting; you could tell why Anjin-san was bewitched by her.  And of course, there is Mifune Toshiro.  I can not say enough about this actor.  Undoubtedly the best Japanese actor of the last century, one can make a case for him as one of the best in the world.  Nor did he disappoint here, playing the subtle and crafty Toranaga Yoshi, Diamyo of the Kwanto, future Shogun of all Japan.

Nor were the minor roles unattended.  John Rhys-Davies as the Portuguese Pilot, Rodrigues, Anjin-san's only friend in the enemy camp, Damian Thomas as the infinitely complex Father Alvito, the Jesuit translator.  Both enemy, and sympathizer with Anjin-san, his role was one of conflicted motivations.  And among the Japanese, Meguro Yuki, who played Omi, who against his will, came to respect and like the hairy barbarian, and Senno Hiromi, who plays Fufiko, Anjin-san's consort.  Brave, fearless, and long suffering, she serves her lord with all the fierce determination of the samurai that she is.

A story with scope, superlative actors with a wonderful script, and attention to the little details, this is an epic story, and a classic achievement.  As fresh and timeless as it was in 1980, it stands the test of time as one of the most compelling of miniseries.