Review: Shogun

A nine hour miniseries in which Richard Chamberlain stars as Maj. Blackthorne, a British navigator of a Dutch merchant ship who after a storm, is shipwrecked off the coast of Japan in the 16^th century. In addition to the Japanese locals, Blackthorne finds himself amongst Portuguese traders and Jesuit priests (They’re Catholics, he’s a Protestant). He and the surviving crew are swiftly imprisoned and accused of piracy by the Jesuits (who are at war with the Dutch). The local lord, Toranaga (Toshiro Mifune) takes an interest in Blackthorne, though, or ‘anjin’ as he is dubbed (it means ‘pilot’), and wants to hear his story, assigning the lovely Lady Toda (Yoko Shimada) as his translator. Before long, Blackthorne has become involved in the political struggle between Lord Toranaga and his rival as Toranaga aims to be Shogun (kind of an uber-warlord). He also begins a forbidden romance with the married Lady Toda. John Rhys-Davies is Blackthorne’s friendly Portuguese rival ‘pilot’ Rodrigues, Frankie Sakai (who looks about as friendly as a kick to the nuts) plays the gruff warrior Yabu, and Sir Michael Hordern is the sad Father Domingo, an imprisoned Jesuit priest, who is slightly batty. Damien Thomas plays Jesuit translator Father Alvito, who, whilst somewhat standoff-ish towards Blackthorne, is far less hostile than most. Alan Badel plays well-meaning Spanish missionary Father Dell’Aqua, whilst Vladek Sheybal is a sinister Portuguese trader.

Although not as culturally important or emotionally involving as “Roots”, this 1980 Jerry London (director for mostly TV shows like “Hogan’s Heroes”, “The Six Million Dollar Man”, and “Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman”) epic adaptation of the James Clavell (“King Rat”, “The Great Escape”) novel is still one of the most impressive miniseries of all-time. It’s a bloody entertaining yarn (with ties to real historical characters) that sort of serves as a precursor to “The Last Samurai” (minus the self-loathing main character in that film) and has a scope pretty much unheard of for TV miniseries at the time.

I could quibble that Chamberlain isn’t as snug a fit in the title role as say an Ian McShane or Michael York would’ve perhaps been, but it’s still one of his best-ever performances (he was Emmy nominated for it), in a very demanding role. Even better are the supporting cast, notably the legendary Mifune, the perfectly cast and blustery Rhys-Davies (who nearly steals the show from Mifune), and the graceful, affecting, sweet, and even quite sexy Shimada. Thomas is a bit bland in a shadowy role, but there’s fine small turns by Sakai (who apparently was more of a comedian before this) and an affecting Hordern.

I understand that it would’ve been a massively difficult undertaking, but it has to be said that narratively, it’s a little weird. In addition to an intermittent Orson Welles narration, we get intermittent English title cards, and a lot of scenes with unsubtitled Japanese. The latter works, though, because it forces us to be as lost as is Chamberlain, and we must read body language, and wait for Shimada’s translations. Still, this is such a fascinating, often stirring story, with some good action, interesting characters, and a mature for the time exploration of another (rather complex) culture.

Costumes, sets, photography, and direction are outstanding for something aimed at the TV format. Not to be missed, though I’ve heard Clavell’s novel is even better. Written by Eric Bercovici (“Three the Hard Way”, “Take a Hard Ride”), who also produced.

Rating: A-