Shogun by Clavell in miniseries format

I'll pretty much watch anything about Asia. I'd even look at a campy low cost production from the early 80s like Shogun for entertainment. The TV series was pretty campy. It didn't get any noms or awards. And a lot of the set pieces, like the boats, were pretty crappy. This was back in the days before CGI and such. So actual boats had to be used with a simulated sea. It might've worked back then, but it looks pretty bad nowadays. And the overt references to politics and religion really strain the viewer to recall the 100 years War and the discovery of East Asia.

I think back to the current political state of affairs when this TV series was produced. TV was still a big market, really the only one. There was no internet. And Thatcher and Reagan were in office with the bluster of election wins, proclaiming a revolution. Japan was a driving force in World affairs. It seemed like the Japanese were going to take over the World. In fact they didn't. But a film like Shogun shows how interest in Japan was at a fever pitch during the 80s. The Japanese even have a statue to commemorate the decade of the 80s in Japan.

I thought all the talk and conflicts about religion and race really indicative of the time period the film was made. I thought it could be a artifact about the 80s. In the US, the religious right was a major force in the 80s. Reagan used it to his advantage. The film makes much about the conflict in Christianity between Protestants and Catholics. There is also much talk about the West and East. All of it stays surface level. Things never get that dramatic.

It's TV, what do you expect? Yet the series is still compelling as a story about the discovery of Japan and the opening of it's culture. Although it would close it doors to the World for centuries, eventually it opened up. Thats another long story. It would be interesting if there was a film made about the Meiji Restoration period. Most Japanese films, that deal with History, are usually focused on the Empire period and the Wars that happened in the early 20th Century.

Somewhat entertaining. Not as good as something by one of the countless Japanese auteurs.