Directed by:
Jerry LondonScreenplay:
Eric BercoviciCinematography:
Andrew LaszloComposer:
Maurice JarreCast:
Richard Chamberlain, Toshirō Mifune, 島田陽子, Frankie Sakai, Alan Badel, Michael Hordern, Damien Thomas, Vladek Sheybal, Tōru Abe, Hiroshi Hasegawa, Orson Welles (more)Plots(1)
Richard Chamberlain stars as John Blackthorne, the 17th-century English navigator on a Dutch trading ship. A storm runs the ship aground off the coast of Japan, a "torn and cruelly divided country" locked in a power struggle between Toranaga (Toshiro Mifune) and Ishido, two warlords who would be Shogun. Blackthorne gets over his initial culture shock ("I piss on you and your country", he defiantly proclaims to his samurai captors, which to his humiliation turns out to be an unfortunate choice of words) to become a trusted ally of Toranaga and the lover of the beautiful interpreter Lady Mariko (Yoko Shimada). Their forbidden, ill-fated romance--and Blackthorne's total assimilation into Japanese culture--is set against political intrigue as Toranaga prepares for the inevitable showdown with Ishido, and Blackthorne's growing influence threatens the local Jesuits who had built up a lucrative trade monopoly. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Reviews (1)
Several hours of excellent series based on the famous book, edited into two hours of running time. Not great, but solidly watchable. Still, it is better to pay attention to the series of the same name or preferably to the book.
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