Shōgun (1980 miniseries)
Shōgun | |
---|---|
Genre | Historical drama |
Based on | Shōgun by James Clavell |
Written by | Eric Bercovici |
Directed by | Jerry London |
Starring | |
Music by | Multi-camera |
Running time |
|
Production company | Paramount Television |
Budget | $22 million[1] ($69 million in 2020)[1] |
Original release | |
Network | NBC |
Release | September 15 September 19, 1980 | –
Shōgun is a 1980 American
The miniseries is loosely based on the adventures of English navigator
Shōgun received generally positive reviews from critics and won several accolades, including the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited Series, the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama, and a 1981 Peabody Award. A remake series was released by FX in February 2024.[2]
Plot
After his
Through an interpreter, Blackthorne later reveals certain surprising details about the Portuguese traders and their Jesuit overlords. He explains to Lord Toranaga about the terms of the Treaty of Tordesillas which was signed between Portugal and Spain in 1494, forcing Toranaga to trust him; they forge a tenuous alliance, much to the chagrin of the Jesuits. To help the Englishman learn their language and to assimilate to Japanese culture, Toranaga assigns a teacher and interpreter to him, the beautiful Lady Mariko, a Catholic convert and one of Toranaga's most trusted retainers. Blackthorne soon becomes infatuated with her, but Mariko is already married, and their budding romance is ultimately doomed by future circumstances. Blackthorne also ends up saving the life of a Portuguese counterpart, Pilot Vasco Rodrigues, who becomes his friend despite their being on opposite sides.
Blackthorne saves Toranaga's life by audaciously helping him escape from
Blackthorne supervises the construction of a new ship, The Lady, using funds Mariko left to him in her will for this very purpose. Blackthorne is observed at a distance by Lord Toranaga; in a voice-over he reveals his inner thoughts, observing that Blackthorne still has much to teach him. It was Toranaga who ordered the Erasmus destroyed by fire to keep Blackthorne safe from his Portuguese enemies, who feared his hostile actions with the ship (and, if need be, the warlord will also destroy the new ship Blackthorne is currently building). He also discloses Mariko's secret but vital role in the grand deception of his enemies, and, as a result, how she was destined to die, helping to assure his coming final victory. The warlord knows that Blackthorne's karma brought him to Japan and that the Englishman, now his trusted retainer and samurai, is destined never to leave. Toranaga also knows it is his karma to become shōgun.
In a voice-over epilogue, it is revealed that Toranaga and his army are triumphant at the Battle of Sekigahara; he captures and then disgraces his old rival, Lord Ishido, burying him up to his neck to die slowly. The narrator concludes that when the Emperor of Japan offered Toranaga the position of shōgun, he "reluctantly agreed".
Cast
Performer | Role |
---|---|
Starring | |
Richard Chamberlain | Pilot-Major John Blackthorne "Anjin-san"
|
Toshiro Mifune | Yoshi Toranaga, Lord of the Kanto Region |
Yoko Shimada | Lady Toda Buntaro "Mariko" |
Frankie Sakai | Lord Kashigi Yabu, Daimyo of Izu |
Also starring | |
Alan Badel | Father Dell'Aqua |
Michael Hordern | Friar Domingo |
Damien Thomas | Father Martin Alvito |
John Rhys-Davies | Vasco Rodrigues |
Vladek Sheybal | Captain Ferreira |
George Innes | Johann Vinck |
Leon Lissek | Father Sebastio |
Yūki Meguro | Kashigi Omi, Head Samurai of Anjiro |
Hideo Takamatsu | Lord Toda Buntaro |
Hiromi Senno | Usagi Fujiko |
Nobuo Kaneko | Ishido Kazunari, Ruler of Osaka Castle |
Featuring | |
Edward Peel | Jan Pieterzoon |
Eric Richard | Maetsukker |
Steve Ubels | Roper |
Stewart MacKenzie | Croocq |
John Carney | Ginsel |
Ian Jentle | Salamon |
Neil McCarthy | Spillbergen |
Morgan Sheppard | Specz |
Seiji Miyaguchi | Muraji |
Toru Abe | Toda Hiromatsu |
Mika Kitagawa | Kiku |
Shin Takuma | Yoshi Naga |
Hiroshi Hasegawa | Galley Captain |
Akira Sera | Old Gardener |
Hyoei Enoki | Jirobei |
Miiko Taka | Kiri |
Midori Takei | Sono |
Ai Matsubara | Rako |
Yumiko Morishita | Asa |
Rinichi Yamamoto | Yoshinaka |
Yuko Kada | Sazuko |
Masumi Okada | Brother Michael |
Yosuke Natsuki | Zataki |
Takeshi Obayashi | Urano |
Yoshie Kitsuda | Gyoko |
Masashi Ebara | Suga |
Setsuko Sekine | Genjiko |
Atsuko Sano | Lady Ochiba |
Orson Welles | Narrator |
Only three of the Japanese actors spoke English in the entire production: Shimada, Obayashi, and Okada. At the time of filming, Shimada knew very little English, and heavily relied on her dialogue coach to deliver her lines phonetically. The English words that she could not pronounce were substituted or overdubbed in post-production.
Episodes
Episode | Original US air date | Times | Notes | Household rating[3] |
Household viewers (millions)[3] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
01 | 15 September 1980 | 8 pm – 11 pm Eastern | (3 hr opener) | 29.5 | 23.0 |
02 | 16 September 1980 | 8 pm – 10 pm Eastern | 31.7 | 24.7 | |
03 | 17 September 1980 | 9 pm – 11 pm Eastern | 36.9 | 28.7 | |
04 | 18 September 1980 | 9 pm – 11 pm Eastern | 35.6 | 27.7 | |
05 | 19 September 1980 | 8 pm – 11 pm Eastern | (3 hr finale) | 31.5 | 24.5 |
Production
Clavell and NBC wanted Sean Connery to play Blackthorne, but Connery reportedly laughed at the idea of working for months in Japan, as he had disliked filming You Only Live Twice there.[4] According to the documentary The Making of Shōgun, other actors considered for the role included Roger Moore and Albert Finney.
Clavell said he was originally opposed to Richard Chamberlain's casting, wanting Albert Finney. However he was extremely happy with Chamberlain's performance: "He's marvelous", said Clavell.[5]
The 16th-century European sailing ship used in the series was
Shots of Toranaga's castle used Hikone Castle in Shiga Prefecture.
Reception
Shōgun was produced after the success of the television miniseries
NBC had the highest weekly
The Japanese characters speak in Japanese throughout, except when translating for Blackthorne; the original broadcast did not use subtitles for the Japanese dialog. As the movie was presented from Blackthorne's point of view, the producers felt that "what he doesn't understand, we [shouldn't] understand".[9]
Sexuality and violence
Shōgun broke several broadcast taboos and contained several firsts for American television.
- It was the first network show allowed to use the word "piss" in dialogue and actually to show the act of urination. As a symbolic act of Blackthorne's subservience to the Japanese ruling class and to punish him for saying "I piss on you and your country", Blackthorne is urinated upon by Kasigi Omi, a local leading samurai.[10]
- In the first episode, Blackthorne's stranded shipmates are to be suspended in a cargo net into a boiling vat of soy sauce and water; one of them, Pieterzoon, is killed that way until Blackthorne acquiesces to the Japanese nobility.
- A man is shown beheaded early in the first chapter, another first for network TV (although the film version of the sequence was more bloody).
- Men are shown wearing fundoshi.
- Mariko is shown naked in a bath scene, and when Blackthorne is reunited with his men, a woman's breast is visible.
- Shōgun was also noted for its frank discussion of sexuality (e.g., pederasty), and matters such as Japanese ritual suicide (seppuku).
Reception in Japan
The miniseries was reported to have been negatively received in Japan, where it was broadcast in 1981 on TV Asahi, as the series' fictionalization of events in the 16th century seemed frivolous and trivial.[11] Many Japanese viewers were already accustomed to historical drama series such as NHK's annual taiga dramas, which were considered more faithful towards the history they are depicting than the miniseries.[11]
Theatrical release
In Japan, Shōgun was cut to a 159-minute version and released theatrically on November 9, 1980.[12] Stuart Galbraith IV described this version of the film as "fatally cut to ribbons".[12][13] It was later restored to its full length for a home video release in Japan.[12][13]
A heavily truncated 125-minute edit of the miniseries was released in 1980 to European theatrical film markets. This was also the first version of Shōgun to be released to the North American home video market (a release of the full miniseries did not occur until later). The theatrical version contains additional violence and nudity that had been removed from the NBC broadcast version.
DVD release
The five-disc DVD release has no episode breaks and bonus features on disc 5.
- DVD release: September 30, 2003
- Feature length: 547 minutes
- Extras: 13-segment documentary on the making of Shōgun (79:24); Historical Featurettes – The Samurai (5:34), Tea Ceremony (4:35), and Geisha (4:56); audio commentary by Director Jerry London on 7 selected scenes[14]
The 125-minute version has yet to be released on DVD or Blu-ray.
Blu-ray release
CBS Home Entertainment's
Syndicated version
A version of the miniseries edited into one-hour episodes has been broadcast in North America.
Accolades
See also
- List of historical drama films of Asia
- Tokugawa Ieyasu, 1983 taiga drama about the life of Ieyasu, the basis for Lord Toranaga, aired two years after Shōgun's Japan release.
References
- ^ a b "Hollywood Flashback: One in Three TV Sets Tuned In to 'Shogun' in 1980". The Hollywood Reporter. June 24, 2020. Retrieved March 7, 2024.
- ^ "FX Shogun | on Hulu and FX".
- ^ a b "The Nielsen ratings". The Southeast Missourian. September 26, 1980. p. 14. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
- ^ Mavis, Paul (2011-03-14). "Shogun – 30th Anniversary Edition". DVDTalk. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
- ^ "CLAVELL: CHEERS FOR CHAMBERLAIN'S CRAFT: CHAMBERLAIN". Los Angeles Times. Feb 12, 1980. p. g1.
- ^ Stabler, Simon (June 2023). "The Gold Standard". Best of British. p. 52. Archived from the original on 2024-01-05. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
- ^ "'Shogun' Tops Nielsens". Cornell Daily Sun. Associated Press. 1980-09-24. p. 17. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
- ^ Walters, Ray (1980-10-12). "Paperback Talk". New York Times. pp. A47.
- Toledo Blade.
- ISBN 978-0-7921-9332-6(2003).
- ^ ISBN 1-880656-81-7. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
- ^ a b c Galbraith IV 2008, p. 324.
- ^ a b Galbraith IV 2008, p. 325.
- ^ James Clavell's Shōgun http://www.genreonline.net/Shogun_DVD.html Retrieved 2009-08-15
- ^ "Shōgun". Peabody Awards. Retrieved October 15, 2023.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners". IMDb. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
- ^ "Shōgun". Golden Globe Awards. Retrieved October 15, 2023.
- ^ "1981 Nominees & Winners". People's Choice Awards. Archived from the original on Apr 5, 2016.
- ^ "Shōgun". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved October 15, 2023.
Sources
- Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. ISBN 978-1461673743. Retrieved October 29, 2013.
External links
- Shōgun at IMDb