Soak yourself in Shogun

I'm old enough to remember when this TV series was the talk of the town when it first aired in 1981 or 82. The ratings were phenomenal. The reason for this is that it is an epic adventure with something in it to please all palates.

The story follows, in just over 9 hours, the adventures of Englishman John Blackthorne, 16th century pilot of the Erasmus, a Dutch ship trying to find the East Indies via the Straight of Magellan (then a closely guarded Spanish secret). Having lost much of their ship convoy passing the Straight, and with much of its crew dead of scurvy, the Erasmus finds itself in a terrible storm and beaches itself in Japan.

At the time, a treaty between the Kings of Spain and Portugal had split the unexplored world in half. Protestant Netherlands has recently gained a tenuous independence from Spain. A Protestant arriving in Japan, a country dominated by Catholic Jesuits was not welcome.

Blackthorne finds his crew taken hostage while his fate is decided first by a local "daimyo" Lord Yabu (Frankie Sakai is great here), then by one of the five members of the Council Regents who control Japan, Yoshi Toranaga (beautifully portrayed by Toshirô Mifune).

This movie has everything: swords for the action scenes, catastrophes, romance, love triangles, court intrigue, you name it, it's in here. The costumes and sets are lavish and the acting is creditable. The effects, while pretty good for the early 80s, are a bit lame by today's standards. For example, the storm scenes don't look like anyone would suffer much damage from them.

Richard Chamberlain did an admirable job of portraying Blackthorne, and his slow transition and acceptance of Japanese culture is handled beautifully. Most of the performances are good, but a few stand out head and shoulders above the rest: John Rhys-Davies as Vasco Rodrigues (a Portuguese pilot who befriends Blackthorne but never really trusts him), Damien Thomas as Father Alvito (a Jesuit who knows Japanese so well that he has become a court translator, mortal enemy to Blackthorne), Yôko Shimada as Mariko (Blackthorne's love interest who is already married to Buntaro, a violent samurai), Vladek Sheybal as Captain Ferriera (captain of the annual Black Ship that brings silver back to Europe from Japan and China).

The appeal of the movie is in its exploration of the wild differences between the culture in Japan and Europe at the time. Each thinks the other barbaric for its customs and mores.

What is particularly stunning about this movie is that it portrays the feudal period of Japan at its best. The fact that many of the details are based on the actual history of Japan is a tribute to the author James Clavell (who contributes greatly to the script). His research was obviously well done. The warlords Yoshi Toranaga who controls the East and Lord Ishido in the West are fictitious characters who closely follow the same battles and intrigues as the real Tokugawa Ieyasu and Ishida Mitsunari.

Any fan of Clavell or of Japanese history will enjoy this movie. In my opinion, this is the best book adaptation I have ever seen. The 2-hour version of this is not worth your while as it is so cut as to be unrecognizable. If you can get your hands on the full 9-hour series, get it. You won't regret it.