Shogun on FX

Cafe Society
,
141

Chapter Ten: A Dream of a Dream What an interesting ending to the series. In broad strokes it follows the book while adding some nice touches as well.

They started it out with a scene that is not in the book at all, at lease explicitly and had me going “wha??? how could they change the story so radically.” There is nothing in the Novel that hints that Blackthorne will return to England so seeing some version of that event was jarring. In the end though you realize that it is what he imagined his future would be, which is alluded to in the Novel, where he sees himself returning to England and receiving knighthood and becoming, in his terms, an ancestor. His holding on to the cross in his imagination, which he then lets go in the final scenes, as well as a lot of what happens in the rest of the episode show his final acceptance of his fate.

We finally get to see that Toranaga wasn’t just being borne by the situation. His revelations to Yabu, who I think had the role typically given to the fool in many stories, who tells the truth of the situation, that a lot of what happened was because of his plans, and that he used the situations to his advantage. I disagree a bit with how they translated his Japanese as “I study the winds” What he literally said is “I read the winds” I can understand why they chose study instead of read since (読) yomu, the verb for read is not just used for simply words, but I feel it loses a little bit in the translation they used. [sidebar] In Japanese if someone tells you to 空気読 (kuuki yomu) read the air, they mean, read the room/situation.[/sidebar].

As @RickJay alluded, there is no final battle scene in the novel, just a description of the events after Mariko’s sacrifice to free the hostages. The scene of Blackthorne being escorted to the Galley in Osaka with the real threat of death is also in the book, though they also had a long funeral scene for Mariko. Given that they already had one for Naga in the series, they probably decided not to show another one that would have the same elements. Having the final goodbye to Mariko be more personal at the end I think made it more poignant than they could have done with him simply attending a funeral.

The whole situation with the ship being burnt, and the reason why comes directly from the Novel. What I feel was not explained in the series but is directly alluded to in the novel is that Blackthorne apprenticed to a ship wright, so he would know how to build more. Also, although the town of Ajiro is punished in the series, but not in the book, the guards chosen to be watching the boat where ones that were known to be either spies or traitors, so having the ship burned gave Toranaga an excuse to clean house whereas In this episode it is shown as a test of Blackthorne, It is possible that it is a dual purpose move, but we are not explicitly shown that.

I understand why they had Blackthorne’s seppuku scene here at the end instead of where it is in the book. To a certain degree that moment is just about the pinnacle of his understanding and acceptance of his situation, and after that it is just some additional changes. Having it at the end instead, brings his journey to a conclusion at the same time as the story.

The scenes with Fuji were really great. They were brought together because of Mariko whom they both loved and now they both lose her and their connection to each other. They also are both alone in the world. Fuji having lost her family, and Blackthorne his men. The moment they share on the boat is very touching and I liked even though no such scene exists in the book.

Speaking of which, according to Michaela Clavell, the location where they filmed is the very lake where James Clavell had his ashes scattered. His daughter talked about how it was not really something she imagined about since she did not write the story but made an already moving scene doubly so for her and her family.

Anyway, a solid ending. Overall, they did a great job with the series. On the whole I liked it. Sure there are some parts here and there I would have liked to see they did not show, but on the whole the story is the same and it is great for it to be given a great treatment with so much authentic detail.

//i\\

142

This was the change I liked the most, by far. It gives Fujiko a better arc, allows for the parallel between her and Blackthorne letting go of the crucifix, and it was very touching.

Many of the secondary characters, especially Omi, got short shrift, so I liked Fujiko getting a better ending.

143

Yes, a better ending, as in the book she “went on a trip” and was being allowed to sucide along the way, while pregnant with Blackthorne’s child.

144

Beautiful, but not a good tale. The Original told a better story, but was not so beautiful.

And I swear it was five minutes of story, five minutes of commercials, ad nauseum.

145

I disagree completely. Although I disliked Mariko being rude to him at the very end of the scene, I openly wept for Buntaro. I thought they did an incredible job of this.

All the comparisons and comments delineating the differences in story are much appreciated. But this director is telling a story, not adapting a book. I think they are doing an excellent job of telling this story through a different medium, to a different audience.

146

Question for book readers regarding Fuji:

In the book at the end she is given permission by Toranaga to commit seppuku, but is told to fake a trip so Blackthorne is not affected by it. Is this not what happened in the show also? they never specify what her cover story is in the book, so becoming a nun could easily be it. They did have that one tender moment at the end though, so its not quite clear. I just assumed she was off to unalive herself, like the book, what did everyone else think?

147

Well, my reading of the show was:

[spoiler]1. There is nothing in the show to suggest Fujiko is lying when she says she’s off to become a nun. It is a common reference in the book, incidentally, that when someone doesn’t want to be samurai anymore, they sometimes leave that life to become a priest or a nun. In the book, that’s where Naga’s (Nagakado in the show) mother went, and it’s not a cover story, she is still friends with Toranaga.

  1. It is more consistent with the scene with Blackthorne, more consistent with the theme of letting go of the past and accepting life, that Fuji would choose to live. [/spoiler]
148

I don’t entirely disagree, though my most vivid memory of the first filmed version was Richard Chamberlain’s Blackthorne, blinded by the explosion that killed Mariko, being treated as her true consort at her funeral by all the people who recognized–without explicitly referring to it–that Mariko and Blackthorne had a significant bond.

It’s been mentioned in the thread that this version’s Mariko, unlike the Mariko of the book, is unrelentingly serious and even grim. It may have been a conscious choice on the part of the filmmakers as a way of helping Western audiences understand the character’s willingness to die at Osaka in order to bring the hostages out.

Though the West has its own history of feudalism, we never really developed a culturally deep tradition that says it’s honorable to die to advance your boss’s (or ‘lord’s’) ambitions. Honorable to die to save the lives of others (possibly including your boss), yes. But honorable to die to help your boss advance? Not really. We have no Bushido.

So Western audiences might have felt dissatisfaction at a story featuring a Mariko who demonstrated that she could enjoy life, then inexplicably (to us) volunteering likely suicide just so Toranaga could out-maneuver his rivals. But a Mariko who was, every day and every hour, suffering from the facts of the deaths of her father and other family–yes, we could see her moving toward her goal of ending her own suffering while also helping the lord to whom she’d pledged her allegiance.

I was reminded of Burton constantly throughout the ten episodes. (I’m not sure why Burton’s voice is so familiar to me; I guess maybe I’ve watched Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf several times, as well as other RB performances, over the years.)

Jarvis looks … not-unlike Burton. Makes me wonder if he consciously modeled his voice on that of the great Welsh actor.

149

Something Clavell goes into a lot is the notion the Japanese are trained from birth to sort of compartmentalize their emotions; now is time for fun, so I will have fun, even though I was sad before. As well, he writes - in fact Mariko herself does a huge speech on it - that they accept the reality of death, so why not laugh and have a good time when you can?

But he had 1100 pages or so to have characters explain this; in a limited series, something had to give.

150

Absolutely. And the fact of Clavell employing internal monologues also contributed to his Western readers’ ability to understand Mariko’s decision to risk almost certain death, despite being a young and healthy person with a good position in her society.

The makers of the TV show lacked that useful tool (or at least didn’t care to use voiceover narration to reveal characters’ thoughts).

151

SPOILERS BE HERE

Okay, I’m finally watching it on Hulu. Just finished Episode 4 and the “cannon ambush” ending has me confused. I thought all the “audience” for the demonstration were standing right behind the cannons, and don’t follow who was standing where when the carefully targeted attack occurs. I expect the answer to be simple and obvious so be nice to me.

152

The targets were off to the side a bit. It was all very fast.

153

It also helps you know what Toranaga is all about, and that too was a character that wasn’t really the same. Toaranaga in the book can be very jovial; he enjoys life. Sanada played him as very stoic and reserved. He’s a terrific actor of course, but it was a different character.

154

Yeah, I actually laughed at the end when he told Yabu “he makes me laugh” when he’s had this expression the entire show.

155

But weren’t the cannons right next to the “audience”? If I saw correctly the targets were still across the field.

156

In the book, he actually does have a fun moment or two with Blackthorne and so when he thinks that at the end, it makes sense. He also joshes around with Mariko, in part because she’s one of the very few people, maybe the only one, he knows who is his intellectual equal.

157

Naga had more cannons hidden on the other side of the field.

They had 20 cannons from Erasmus, so there were a lot of them, more than they had set up for training.

158

Thank you! Now I’ve got it.

159

Except for that moment of sadistic pleasure* when he makes Yabushige wait for the killing stroke while Yabu is enduring the pain of self-disembowelment.
.
.
.
*My interpretation, anyway. I realize others may have seen it differently.

160

That is certainly one interpretation, or, if you go by what those characters see as honorable, he is pleased to see how valiantly he dies. In the book Yabu explicitly asks for his second (which isn’t Toranaga) to be sure to wait for him to make the second cut before finishing him off.

At the same time, we tend to place our own expectations of outward expressions to the characters in the series which are not theirs. Even today in Japan a lot of Japanese show little outward emotion while at the same time expressing in other ways that they are happy or sad. Toranaga is the classic example of that. There are certain things he says that are clearly ironic even though his expression does not show it outwardly.

//i\\