Shōgun is an American television miniseries based on the namesake novel by James Clavell. As with the novel, the title is often shown as Shōgun in order to conform to Hepburn romanization. The miniseries was broadcast over five nights, between September 15 and September 19, 1980 on NBC in the United States. To date, it is the only USA-based TV show/miniseries to be filmed entirely on location in Japan. Even the studio shots were done in Japanese studios.
Plot
Main article:
Shōgun (novel)The story is based on the adventures of English navigator William Adams. The series follows Pilot John Blackthorne's experiences in Japan in the early 1600s. After his ship is wrecked along the coast of Japan, Blackthorne must juggle his identity as an Englishman associated with other Europeans, namely Portuguese traders and Jesuit priests, and the Japanese culture into which he is thrust.
Cast
The miniseries, with narration by Orson Welles, starred Richard Chamberlain as John Blackthorne (Anjin-san), Toshiro Mifune as Lord Toranaga, Yoko Shimada as Lady Toda Buntaro a.k.a. Mariko, John Rhys-Davies in one of his first major roles as Portuguese Pilot Vasco Rodrigues, Vladek Sheybal as Captain Ferreira, and Michael Hordern as Friar Domingo.
Out of all the Japanese actors hired to be part of the cast, only two spoke English in the entire production: Mariko (Yoko Shimada) and Urano (Takeshi Ôbayashi). At the time the miniseries was made, Shimada did not actually know English and relied on a dialogue coach to help her with English.
Originally, according to the documentary The Making of Shōgun, featured on the North American DVD release, James Clavell wanted Sean Connery to play Blackthorne, but Connery balked at doing television. Other actors considered for the role included Roger Moore and Albert Finney.
Episode guide
It was also broadcast in repeats as six two-hour parts and sometimes edited for content (particularly the omission of the beheading and urinating scenes in episode 1).
Publicity
As an effort to increase awareness and publicity for the series, weeks before the episodes aired on network television, a replica of the Erasmus was docked in New York City, while hired actors dressed up as samurai roamed the streets near the harbor to promote the tv show.
Theatrical release
A 125-minute edit of the miniseries was released to theatrical film markets in Europe in 1980. This version was also the first version of the miniseries to be released to the home video market in North America (a release of the full miniseries did not occur until later). The film version contains additional violence and nudity that had been removed from the NBC version.
DVD release
The DVD release has no episode breaks. It is divided over 4 discs with bonus features on disc 5.
- DVD Release: September 30, 2003
- Feature length: 547 minutes
- Extras: 13-segment documentary on the making of Shogun (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[1]
Cast
Reception
The mini-series was one of the highest-rated programs in NBC history and sparked a wave of historical-based miniseries over the next few years (such as North and South and The Thorn Birds) as networks clamoured to capitalize on a good thing.
The success of the miniseries was credited with increasing awareness of Japanese culture in America. In the documentary The Making of Shōgun, it is stated that the rise of Japanese food establishments in the US (particularly sushi houses) is attributed to Shōgun. It was also noted that during the week of broadcast, many restaurants and movie houses saw a decrease in business. The documentary states many stayed home to watch Shōgun — unprecedented for a television broadcast. (The broadcast predated popular use of the home VCR by several years.)
The Japanese characters speak in Japanese throughout, except when translating for Blackthorne. The original broadcast did not use subtitles for the Japanese portions. As the movie was presented from Blackthorne's point of view, the producers felt that "what he doesn't understand, we [shouldn't] understand."[2]
Rotten Tomatoes gives the series a critic rating of 80%.[3]
It was first broadcast in Japan in April, 1981, where it was dubbed into Japanese throughout. Its ratings on TV Asahi were similar to those of Roots (TV miniseries).[4]
Sexuality and violence
Shōgun broke several taboos and firsts for American broadcast TV.
- 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 to show his subservience to the Japanese ruling class, Blackthorne is urinated upon by a Japanese noble).
- In the first episode, Blackthorne's stranded shipmates are suspended in a cargo net and dunked, screaming, into boiling water until Blackthorne acquiesces to the Japanese nobility.
- A man shown being beheaded early in the first chapter was another first for network TV (although the film version of the sequence was more bloody).
- The miniseries was also noted for its frank discussion of sexuality, nudity, and of matters such as Japanese ritual suicide (seppuku).
Awards
- 1981 Peabody Award
- 1981 Golden Globe, won:
- Best TV-Series - Drama
- Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series - Drama: Richard Chamberlain
- Best Performance by an Actress in a TV-Series - Drama: Yôko Shimada
- 1981 nominated American Cinema Editors "Eddie" Award, Best Edited Episode from a Television Mini-Series(episode 1): James T. Heckert, Bill Luciano, Donald R. Rode, Benjamin A. Weissman, Jerry Young
- 1981 Emmy, won:
- Outstanding Limited Series: James Clavell (executive producer), Eric Bercovici (producer)
- Outstanding Costume Design for a Series (episode 5): Shin Nishida
- Outstanding Graphic Design and Title Sequences (episode 1): Phill Norman (graphic designer)
- 1981 Emmy, nominated:
- Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Special: Richard Chamberlain
- Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Special: Toshirô Mifune
- Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Special: Yôko Shimada
- Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Special: John Rhys-Davies
- Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Special: Yuki Meguro
- Outstanding Achievement in Film Sound Editing (episode 3): Stanley Paul (supervising sound editor), William Andrews (sound editor), Leonard Corso (sound editor), Denis Dutton (sound editor), Jack A. Finlay (sound editor), Robert Gutknecht (sound editor), Sean Hanley (sound editor), Pierre Jalbert (sound editor), Jack Keath (sound editor), Alan L. Nineberg (sound editor), Lee Osborne (sound editor), Tally Paulos (sound editor)
- Outstanding Art Direction for a Limited Series or a Special (episode 5): Joseph R. Jennings (production designer), Yoshinobu Nishioka (art director), Tom Pedigo (set decorator), Shoichi Yasuda (set decorator)
- Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited Series or a Special (episode 4): Andrew Laszlo
- Outstanding Directing in a Limited Series or a Special (episode 5): Jerry London
- Outstanding Film Editing for a Limited Series or a Special (episode 5): Donald R. Rode, Benjamin A. Weissman, Jerry Young, Bill Luciano
- Outstanding Writing in a Limited Series or a Special (episode 5): Eric Bercovici (writer)
References
External links
