About Shogun and Jidaigeki
(November 19, 2024)
About Shogun and Jidaigeki (November 19, 2024)
Shogun (TV drama series, 2024 – ) won the 76th Emmy Awards 2024 in 18 categories including the best drama series and the best lead actor. In the ensuing interview, the lead actor Sanada Hiroyuki said that he tried to add more Japanese eyes to James Clavell’s novel and script so as to present authentic and believable jidaigeki (Japanese period drama). Sanada wanted to do the same in the filming of Last Samurai (2003), but his opinion was not fully reflected, and the movie left him with unsatisfied feeling. So, the bestowal of Emmy Awards must have been a winning moment for Sanada as the proof that authentic jidaigeki can be universal.
Many years ago, I watched Shogun (TV mini-series, 1980). Although I enjoyed the drama, I also felt uneasiness which at the time was difficult to explain. The story follows an English seaman William Adams who is washed up on Japanese coast, then becomes Shogun’s advisor for international diplomacy. Although William Adams (known as Miura Anjin in Japan) was a real character in history, the story was mostly a fictional adventure created by Clavell who got inspiration from the story of William Adams.
About the uneasiness I felt at the first view, maybe now, I can explain as follows. I felt like playing a video game (although there was no such thing at the time). In this game, you are the main character Anjin (a marooned English seaman) in the 17th century Japan. There are many Japanese characters in the game. Toranaga (Mifune Toshiro) and Mariko (Shimada Yoko) are two important characters who interact with you. And the most of the rest are NPCs (Non-Playable-Characters). Some of the NPCs are tortured and beheaded to display the barbaric nature of the period. James Clavell disassembled, then reassembled the 17th century Japan in his mind, and this is the world you play.
In The Martian Chronicles (1950) by Ray Bradbury, a group of astronauts from Earth lands on Mars and finds the people of their childhood small town of Ohio. The astronauts are welcomed by their loved ones and settle in their homes. But later, the captain feels something is not quite right. Why? Maybe, because the place is a small town of Ohio, disassembled and reassembled in Martians’ mind. The captain tries to caution the other crew members but only to find it’s too late.
Highly acclaimed movie director Kurosawa Akira made many jidaigekis. But I feel these movies are not quite authentic in the sense meant by Sanada. Although the stories in Kurosawa’s movies are based on events in the 16 – 19th century Japan, it is difficult to specify when and where the stories take place. Maybe, authenticity is not an issue to Kurosawa’s movie making. Often, Kurosawa’s stories are inspired by international literatures; Shakespeare, Gorky, Dostoevsky, etc. Crime mysteries by Hammett and McBain are also included in the list. Kurosawa takes in these stories, analyses, disassembles, and reassembles in his mind. Then, the stories are transformed into Japanese. However, the time and place of the stories do not need to be authentic Japanese as long as they reflect Kurosawa’s esthetic and artistic value. Through these process of creation, Kurosawa’s movies become universal, free from specific ethnicity and culture.
It is difficult to imagine Shogun is transformed into a story taking place somewhere else but sengoku-period Japan. If someone tries this, most of the elements will be lost from the story. On the other hand, we know many of Kurosawa’s movies are successfully transformed and remade by creators world-wide.
References:
The Last Samurai (2003), produced and directed by Edward Zwick, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Shogun (1980), TV mini-series, directed by Jerry London, produced by Paramount television, based on the novel by James Clavell.
Shogun (2024 – ), TV drama series, released from FX on Hulu and FX, based on the novel by James Clavell.
Bradbury, Ray, Martian Chronicles (1950).
Clavell, James, Shogun (1975).
