Shogun, Disney

[biggbn]

Getting good reviews, one of my favourite books and even liked the old (80s?) series. Will give this a go I think

Edited by biggbn on Wednesday 10th April 06:48

[biggbn]

I'm waiting on finishing Slow Horses, then Shogun is next. Hope it is as good as it seemed. The book was a masterpiece.

[biggbn]

E63eeeeee... said:

Really enjoyed the first episode, but between the subtitles and the sheer number of characters I found you actually have to properly pay attention, so due to only infrequently getting to the TV in that frame of mind I've not managed to get to E2 yet. Definitely looking forward to the rest of it though.

Can't wait to see what they do for Lord Buntaro, he was an epic, hard as nails, nasty villain in the book

[biggbn]

JoshSm said:

C5_Steve said:

I read an interesting fact about how they wrote the scripts to ensure the subtitles matched what was being spoken and what was being spoken was culturally accurate. It involved basically writing the script in English, sending it to a team in Japan who would translate it. They then went to a Japanese playwright to be fine-tuned, then onto the actors to add their own flair. Once they'd done that they then translated the scripts back into English to add the subtitles to ensure everything matches up.

Interesting. What you find quite often with these things is that too accurate a translation doesn't work because the cultural context that gives it meaning just won't translate, or there's wordplay or puns or whatever that falls apart during a shift in language.

Some of the best translation work I've seen was the stuff that kept the intended meaning, in context, without concentrating too hard on exactly what was being said; something like a mispronunciation warping a sentence is a *really* tricky thing to shift across unrelated languages.

I mentioned earler, the novel is one of the best researched, richest novels I've read. It is an immaculate historical epic...I last read it about 35 years ago right enough, but remember loving it

[biggbn]

Really enjoying this, very faithful to the book so far. The English actor reminds me more of Lewis Collins than Richard Burton but we must remember he is trying to put over the arrogance and unshakeable belief of an English Protestant of that time. I think he is doing a decent job.

[biggbn]

I'd forgotten the last episodes plot twist from the book, but figured it out as I watched. Compelling, really enjoying this.

[biggbn]

normalbloke said:

272BHP said:

If Hiroyuki Sanada does not win all the awards going for his portrayal of Toranaga then there is simply no justice.

Episode 8 especially - absolutely captivating performance.

Frustrating that I’ve had to pause, viewing, my wife and I are enjoying this immensely, but she’s buggered off on a cruise for 3 weeks! However, I watched The Last Samurai last night, only to see him in that too, which I’d forgotten.

Very similar story I always felt.

[biggbn]

GTO-3R said:

Wow. Watched episode 9 this morning and what a cracker it is! This is the best series I've seen in a long long time and is captivating

I've not read the book but managed to get it for 99p on Kindle so once the series is over I'll give it a read!

Book is utterly immersive and compelling, one of the best researched 'fiction' books I've ever read, although I'd temper that by saying I mist have read it when I was about 16 or 17 and haven't returned to it since!

[biggbn]

For me, this keeps getting better. Episode 9 scene where Marika tries to leave was incredible. Brilliant stuff.

[biggbn]

popeyewhite said:

I'm finding it a bit dull. E9 was an improvement though. I appreciate the acting, sets, world-building etc but I don't remember the original sagging this much in the middle. As noted above, a long time ago though.

I think this is more faithful to the book. The original series, which I have as a box set, almost had a swashbuckling golden days of Holywood vibe, I liked it, but in retrospect it was like some colourful epic Burt Lancaster and Toshiro Mifune might have starred in. Shogun is essentially a Machievellian political novel, and that is coming across much more in this adaptation.

[biggbn]

Just finished this this now. What a visual feast. Final episode was absolutely beautiful and a perfect end to a wonderful adaptation.