I'm watching Shogun with my son. He's interested in all things Japan so I thought this might be an interesting film to see (any other film recommendations?), not to mention the nostalgia I hoped to experience as I had, as an eleven year-old, eagerly watched nightly installments of Shogun. Of course, as is to be expected, it’s difficult to watch—the special effects are terrible (the first death shows a head flying off before actually being struck by the sword), the Japanese inverted Mohawks look ridiculous, and the cultural authenticity is a stretch at best. Still, it’s kind of fun and I just realized that my son is also eleven.
I wonder how he will remember the film as he gets older. It fully engaged me as a youngster. The only TV series that had more impact on me was Roots. Both seemed, at the time, to be cinematic perfections to my young eyes. Somehow I wish for that simple idyllic day when I could get fully caught up and lost into a so-so film.
My “favorite” Shogun moments so far:
During a storm Chamberlain refers to his ship as a whore; later, in a jocular kind of way, he refers to a Japanese commander as a son of a whore after the commander saves Rodrigo.
Rodrigo, the Portuguese pilot, single handedly conquers all Japanese custom and language in one fell swoop.
A Japanese Samurai falls into the pit of English prisoners; he stays there until they prisoners are finally let out; he bows to his lord (for mercy, for honor?), the lord throws him a sword and the young Samurai commits hare-kare. I vividly remember seeing this scene as a kid—it had really disturbed me. Past met present: “Dad, what is he doing? Why is he killing himself?”
Terrible overbearing music which abruptly screams, “Feel tension NOW”
Unbelievably no foreign translations of the Japanese except when the Jesuits are translating which of course isn’t good for much because the Jesuits are at war with the Spaniards and English and intentionally mistranslate.
7 comments:
Since I regularly have Samurai dreams, you be I have recommendations. Let's start with Kurosawa:
1) Throne of Blood (his take on Macbeth)
2) Seven Samurai (quintesential)
3) The Hidden Fortress
4) Yojimbo
5) Akahige
6) Ran (his take on King Lear)
I will warn you that they are all very violent movies but Kurosawa is a wise film maker and doesn't necessarily show the violence, but does show the violence's effect. I am thinking particularly of a scene in Ran where the a woman villain is beheaded, but Kurosawa pans the camera away just in time and only shows the horrific spray of blood that eminates from her body. Come to thing of it, there are some scenes in other ones of spouting blood. Ultimately they might be too much for an 11-year-old, so I suggest screening them before hand. They are worth watching multiple times.
I thought of Kurosawa but was afraid it might be a bit much--I've only seen parts of Seven Samurai and Ran. Ran was a tough but of course anything starting with Lear isn't going to be too happy go lucky.
You should be safe with Seven Samurai. It is pure Western (and that is why the Westerns from the 60s and 70s stole so readily from it.)
Less violent Japanese films? Hmm. Tampopo is a good choice, although its concluding scene is of a baby breast feeding. Hmm.
What I will say is that my favorite R. Chamberlain mini-series is the Thorn Birds (tells everything, doesn't it?)--saw a bit of it a few weeks ago on cable. Bad, bad acting, yet throbbing sexual energy between the bad actors. Couldn't bring myself to watch Shogun as I feared the samurai swordplay. V. sensitive viewer, that's me.
Was Richard Chamberlin on anything other than a miniseries?
My favorite mini-series was Winds of War. It may have been because I fell in love C. Thomas Howell. But I vividly remember watching Roots with my whole family. This was before vcrs, so we actually had to be there, all of us, in the flesh, watching together. I do recall some hard conversations about race. So much for TV bringing about the fall of Western Civilization.
I have vivid memories of watching Roots. At first my parents were not going to allow me to watch it (I was eight at the time). I remember crying in my bedroom and my mother coming to get me to tell me they had changed their mind. Later, during the first episode I believe, the "native" women were bare-breasted so I blurted out, "Now I know why you wouldn't let me watch it." Of course it wasn't the breasts that stayed with me, it was the cruelty of slavery and the humanity of a race I'd never been exposed to in little old Hyrum Utah. My parents get an A+ for parenting that evening.
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