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Shogun
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Synopsis
Based on the epic novel by James Clavell, Shogun originated as an epic five-part television miniseries, filmed on location in Japan. Richard Chamberlain stars as John Blackthorne, a 17th century British sea pilot in charge of a Dutch vessel. Shipwrecked off the coast of Japan, Blackthorne is in danger of being executed by the suspicious, reclusive Japanese hierarchy, but before long he has been accepted into the local culture. Accordingly, he begins to think of himself as Japanese, adopting the nation's customs and, while wearing the robes of a Samurai warrior, helping to defend the land against its enemies. The arrival of Blackthorne unfortunately arouses the interest of European empire-builders, who hope to add Japan to their holdings. Toshiro Mifune costars as Toranaga, a warlord who befriends Blackthorne, and Yoko Shimada appears as Mariko, the interpreter who eventually falls in love with the Englishman. When it first aired in September of 1980, Shogun caused eyebrows to raise with its seemingly reckless disregard of certain TV taboos: for example, one man is beheaded in full view of the audience, while another relieves himself on the body of an enemy. Most of the early dialogue sequence are in Japanese, which resulted in complaints from many monolingual viewers. As a result, the 1983 rebroadcast of Shogun included English narration by Orson Welles. The 125-minute feature version of Shogun, prepared for home video, includes English subtitles--as well as several originally excised scenes of nudity and excessive violence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast

Alan Badel Father Dell'Aqua
Richard Chamberlain John Blackthorne
John Rhys-Davies Rodrigues
Michael Hordern Friar Domingo
George Innes Vinck
Nobuo Kaneko Lord Ishido
Leon Lissek Father Sebastio
Toshiro Mifune Toranaga
Frankie Sakai Yabu
Vladek Sheybal Ferriera
Yoko Shimada Mariko
Damien Thomas Father Alvito
Yuki Meguro Omi
Hideo Takamatsu Buntaro

Production Crew

Yoshinobu Nishioka Art Director
James Clavell Book Author
Andrew Laszlo Cinematographer
Laurin Rinder Composer (Music Score)
Maurice Jarre Composer (Music Score)
Jerry London Director
Benjamin A. Weissman Editor
Donald R. Rode Editor
Jerry Young Editor
James Clavell Executive Producer
Masakazu Yoshizawa Musical Performer
Eric Bercovici Producer
Joseph Jennings Production Designer
Eric Bercovici Screenwriter
Year: 1980
Runtime: 549
Country: USA
MPAA Rating:
Category: Feature


Produced by
CIC
NBC
Paramount
Paramount Television

Awards
1980 - Best Television Series - Drama - Golden Globe
1981 - Outstanding Miniseries - Emmy
1981 - Outstanding Miniseries - Academy of Television Arts and Sciences