“Why is it that only those who have never fought in a battle are so eager to be in one?” Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) asks at one point in FX’s Shōgun. It’s a question that resonates not only with the show’s characters but may strike at the heart of our long-standing fascination with samurai.
Its resonance is all the more profound because Shōgun is loosely — very loosely — based on real events from the end of Japan’s Warring States period that pushed the nation into a new era. Taking historical events and crafting drama from them is something the show has in common with many Chanbara or samurai films. The riveting and often bloody history has provided fodder for countless films, including Hiroshi Inagaki’s Samurai trilogy, Sekigahara, Samurai Assassin, and The 47 Ronin.
However, these narrative films can obscure the complex history behind the events. Fortunately,...
Its resonance is all the more profound because Shōgun is loosely — very loosely — based on real events from the end of Japan’s Warring States period that pushed the nation into a new era. Taking historical events and crafting drama from them is something the show has in common with many Chanbara or samurai films. The riveting and often bloody history has provided fodder for countless films, including Hiroshi Inagaki’s Samurai trilogy, Sekigahara, Samurai Assassin, and The 47 Ronin.
However, these narrative films can obscure the complex history behind the events. Fortunately,...
- 4/23/2024
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
Before “Game of Thrones,” there was “Shōgun.”
Both are bestselling novels about a factional war between regents/kings to determine who will sit on a recently usurped throne … but James Clavell’s “Shōgun” was published in 1975, 21 years before George R. R. Martin’s “A Game of Thrones” hit bookshelves. Both became pop culture juggernauts with an Emmy, Golden Globe, and Peabody Award-winning television adaptation that was so popular that restaurants reported a dip in sales whenever an episode aired … but “Shōgun’s” first adaptation premiered in 1980, “Thrones” in 2012. Both draw on real life history to craft dramatic stories, but “Game of Thrones” is a fantasy and “Shōgun” is historical fiction. Kind of.
FX’s 2024 adaptation of “Shōgun” will introduce a new generation to Clavell’s unique twist on writing historical fiction — that is to say, one where all of the historical characters’ names are changed. And many of the events...
Both are bestselling novels about a factional war between regents/kings to determine who will sit on a recently usurped throne … but James Clavell’s “Shōgun” was published in 1975, 21 years before George R. R. Martin’s “A Game of Thrones” hit bookshelves. Both became pop culture juggernauts with an Emmy, Golden Globe, and Peabody Award-winning television adaptation that was so popular that restaurants reported a dip in sales whenever an episode aired … but “Shōgun’s” first adaptation premiered in 1980, “Thrones” in 2012. Both draw on real life history to craft dramatic stories, but “Game of Thrones” is a fantasy and “Shōgun” is historical fiction. Kind of.
FX’s 2024 adaptation of “Shōgun” will introduce a new generation to Clavell’s unique twist on writing historical fiction — that is to say, one where all of the historical characters’ names are changed. And many of the events...
- 2/28/2024
- by Alexis Nedd
- Indiewire
A project that’s reportedly been in gestation for 30 years, so long that Akira Kurosawa once expressed huge hopes for its success before he died, Kubi is a labor of love.
Billed in its press materials as “the latest film by Takeshi Kitano” but hopefully not the veteran director’s last, it marks Kitano’s return to the samurai genre for the first time since 2003’s Zatoichi (a.k.a. The Blind Swordsman). The latter did modestly solid business in its day for an international film, and it will be interesting to see if Kitano, practically a national treasure in Japan, still has the same pull across Asian territories as he used to, let alone across the Pacific and beyond.
But regardless of any box-office performance, this challenging, extremely violent, ravishing-looking, intricately plotted adaptation by Kitano of his novel is of interest for its fresh take on a musty genre.
Billed in its press materials as “the latest film by Takeshi Kitano” but hopefully not the veteran director’s last, it marks Kitano’s return to the samurai genre for the first time since 2003’s Zatoichi (a.k.a. The Blind Swordsman). The latter did modestly solid business in its day for an international film, and it will be interesting to see if Kitano, practically a national treasure in Japan, still has the same pull across Asian territories as he used to, let alone across the Pacific and beyond.
But regardless of any box-office performance, this challenging, extremely violent, ravishing-looking, intricately plotted adaptation by Kitano of his novel is of interest for its fresh take on a musty genre.
- 5/25/2023
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“Kubi” has been on Kitano Takeshi’s (Aka Beat Takeshi) mind for so long that Kurosawa Akira was still alive to comment on it. In 1993, the legendary filmmaker predicted: “When Kitano directs this film, it will surely rival my own ‘Seven Samurai’.” Unfortunately, it’s one of the few times in his later life that Kurosawa was flat-out wrong, though Kitano’s long-in-the-works “Kubi” isn’t entirely without merit.
A re-imagining of real events in the late 16th century, the film’s eye-popping, blood-soaked vistas are a marvelous sight, as are a number of its era-specific details, and its handful of striking moments of queer samurai imagery. However, for the most part, Kitano’s tale of ambition and beheadings — many, many beheadings — loses nearly all momentum in its second half, before settling into a rote, repetitive rhythm.
Oda Nobunaga was considered the first “great unifier” of Japan, and he’s...
A re-imagining of real events in the late 16th century, the film’s eye-popping, blood-soaked vistas are a marvelous sight, as are a number of its era-specific details, and its handful of striking moments of queer samurai imagery. However, for the most part, Kitano’s tale of ambition and beheadings — many, many beheadings — loses nearly all momentum in its second half, before settling into a rote, repetitive rhythm.
Oda Nobunaga was considered the first “great unifier” of Japan, and he’s...
- 5/23/2023
- by Siddhant Adlakha
- Indiewire
Over the last several years, major Japanese studios have started to follow the tactics of their Hollywood equivalents by finally adapting their own comics, called manga, in the way they deserve.
This tendency is not exactly new, since films based on manga/anime have been shot since the 70s. However, it is the first time that so many expensive and subsequently elaborate productions are being made. This is chiefly attributed to two factors:
1.The people behind those films finally realized that they could not squeeze eight or more hours of anime in a single film, and thus decided to present the movie in two or three parts, retaining much of the original’s story and themes.
2.They also realized since most of the titles are sci-fi themed, much of the budget should be allocated towards the special effects, in order for the adaptation to capture the images of the original.
This tendency is not exactly new, since films based on manga/anime have been shot since the 70s. However, it is the first time that so many expensive and subsequently elaborate productions are being made. This is chiefly attributed to two factors:
1.The people behind those films finally realized that they could not squeeze eight or more hours of anime in a single film, and thus decided to present the movie in two or three parts, retaining much of the original’s story and themes.
2.They also realized since most of the titles are sci-fi themed, much of the budget should be allocated towards the special effects, in order for the adaptation to capture the images of the original.
- 4/12/2022
- by AMP Group
- AsianMoviePulse
Age of Samurai: Battle for Japan, a new historical documentary series on Netflix, is being billed as a “real-life Game of Thrones” but it’s much more than that. This is actual history, which is far more compelling than fantasy because it really transpired. “It is like something out of a movie,” says showrunner Matt Booi. “If you wrote this down, no one would believe it. And if you saw it, I think you’d say, ‘Nah.’ But it happened.”
According to Booi, the show covers one of the most violent periods in Japanese history. The six-part series begins in 1551 with the death of feudal lord Oda Nobuhide and follows the rise of three of Japan’s most influential warriors: Nobuhide’s son, Oda Nobunaga (Masayoshi Haneda), Tokugawa Ieyasu (Hayate Masao), and Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Masami Kosaka). Japanese historians, as well as dedicated fans of Samurai movies, will be all too...
According to Booi, the show covers one of the most violent periods in Japanese history. The six-part series begins in 1551 with the death of feudal lord Oda Nobuhide and follows the rise of three of Japan’s most influential warriors: Nobuhide’s son, Oda Nobunaga (Masayoshi Haneda), Tokugawa Ieyasu (Hayate Masao), and Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Masami Kosaka). Japanese historians, as well as dedicated fans of Samurai movies, will be all too...
- 2/24/2021
- by John Saavedra
- Den of Geek
Takeshi Kitano is set to commence work on his latest work “Kubi” (Neck), which is widely being reported to be the last time the Japanese icon will direct a film.
“Kubi”, which is based on Kitano’s 2019 novel of the same name, is a period action piece, one of the many fictional retelling of the famous real-life Honnoji Incident, in which famed warlord Oda Nobunaga was assassinated at a temple in Kyoto in 1582. The characters are mainly real historical figures, including Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the Nobunaga retainer who avenges his dead lord in battle, and Sorori Shinzaemon, a Hideyoshi attendant noted for his wit. Kitano’s novel starts prior to the assassination as Shinzaemon captures Araki Murashige, a Nobunaga general accused of disloyalty. The plot revolves around the fate of Murashige, whose neck Nobunaga aims to sever.
Production supposedly commences on the project in May, 2021 with a new staff that will...
“Kubi”, which is based on Kitano’s 2019 novel of the same name, is a period action piece, one of the many fictional retelling of the famous real-life Honnoji Incident, in which famed warlord Oda Nobunaga was assassinated at a temple in Kyoto in 1582. The characters are mainly real historical figures, including Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the Nobunaga retainer who avenges his dead lord in battle, and Sorori Shinzaemon, a Hideyoshi attendant noted for his wit. Kitano’s novel starts prior to the assassination as Shinzaemon captures Araki Murashige, a Nobunaga general accused of disloyalty. The plot revolves around the fate of Murashige, whose neck Nobunaga aims to sever.
Production supposedly commences on the project in May, 2021 with a new staff that will...
- 2/12/2021
- by Rhythm Zaveri
- AsianMoviePulse
After capping off his Outrage series four years ago with Outrage Coda, we’ve been waiting to see what the great Takeshi Kitano may do next. We finally have an answer, which also brings some inevitable disappointment. At 74 years of age, the Japanese master has reportedly decided his next film will be his last.
Variety clues us in that Japanese magazine Josei Jishin is reporting Kitano will make his final feature with Kubi (aka Neck) and Ken Watanabe is attached to star. Based on his own novel, which was released in 2019, the period film will follow the real-life Honno-ji Incident, in which famed warlord Oda Nobunaga was assassinated at a temple in Kyoto in 1582.
Portraying real-life characters, the ensemble includes Toyotomi Hideyoshi, “the Nobunaga retainer who avenges his dead lord in battle, and Sorori Shinzaemon, a Hideyoshi attendant noted for his wit. In Kitano’s novel, which starts prior to the assassination,...
Variety clues us in that Japanese magazine Josei Jishin is reporting Kitano will make his final feature with Kubi (aka Neck) and Ken Watanabe is attached to star. Based on his own novel, which was released in 2019, the period film will follow the real-life Honno-ji Incident, in which famed warlord Oda Nobunaga was assassinated at a temple in Kyoto in 1582.
Portraying real-life characters, the ensemble includes Toyotomi Hideyoshi, “the Nobunaga retainer who avenges his dead lord in battle, and Sorori Shinzaemon, a Hideyoshi attendant noted for his wit. In Kitano’s novel, which starts prior to the assassination,...
- 2/10/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
There are a lot of question marks around this report from Variety this morning. Reports out of Japan is that Kitano Takeshi is preparing to shoot his final film Neck (Kubi) in May. It would be a period actioner adapted from Kitano's own 2019 novel (pictured left) of the same name. The novel “Kubi” is one of many fictional treatments of the real-life Honno-ji Incident, in which famed warlord Oda Nobunaga was assassinated at a temple in Kyoto in 1582. The characters are mainly real historical figures, including Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the Nobunaga retainer who avenges his dead lord in battle, and Sorori Shinzaemon, a Hideyoshi attendant noted for his wit. In Kitano’s novel, which starts prior to the assassination, Shinzaemon captures Araki Murashige,...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 2/9/2021
- Screen Anarchy
Kitano Takeshi, the 74-year-old icon of Japanese gangster films and TV comedy, has set “Kubi” (Neck) as his next film — and possibly the last movie that he will direct.
The film is a period actioner based on Kitano’s 2019 novel of the same title, published by Kadokawa, according to local magazine Josei Jishin, which reported the news as an unconfirmed exclusive. Kitano’s agency had no comment. However, the story is being widely disseminated by Japanese media.
Shooting is supposed to start in May with Ken Watanabe reportedly signed to star. Kitano will be working with a new staff minus the participation of long-time producer Mori Masayuki .
Kitano’s most recent film as director is the 2017 “Outrage Coda,” which finished with $15 million in Japan. His biggest career hit, however, was “Zatoichi,” Kitano’s take on the iconic period action series about a blind swordsman that earned $27 million in 2003. One inspiration...
The film is a period actioner based on Kitano’s 2019 novel of the same title, published by Kadokawa, according to local magazine Josei Jishin, which reported the news as an unconfirmed exclusive. Kitano’s agency had no comment. However, the story is being widely disseminated by Japanese media.
Shooting is supposed to start in May with Ken Watanabe reportedly signed to star. Kitano will be working with a new staff minus the participation of long-time producer Mori Masayuki .
Kitano’s most recent film as director is the 2017 “Outrage Coda,” which finished with $15 million in Japan. His biggest career hit, however, was “Zatoichi,” Kitano’s take on the iconic period action series about a blind swordsman that earned $27 million in 2003. One inspiration...
- 2/9/2021
- by Mark Schilling
- Variety Film + TV
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