As the absolute façade of Huang Storm Channel, "Game of Thrones" is still famous after so many years of broadcasting, although the unfinished has become a pain in the hearts of many fans, but the influence is needless to say.
For foreign streaming media in the midst of fierce battles, creating the next epic masterpiece has long been put on the agenda.
A recently launched American drama has made Disney's ambitions at a glance, with a freshness of 99% on Rotten Tomatoes, an IMDb score of 9.2, and a Douban score of 8.4.
High-level production, grand scenes, and the use of plots with political schemes, many viewers have tasted a trace of "Game of Thrones", but it tells the story of Japan's Warring States -
"Shogun"
As early as more than 40 years ago, the film and television version of "Shogun" adapted from James Clywell's 1975 novel of the same name was released in Hollywood, which was based on the Battle of Sekigahara during the Warring States period of Japan, and was based on the British navigator William Adams.
The story begins with Japan's internal and external troubles.
In 1600, the Japanese ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi died of illness, and in order to avoid losing power, he appointed five ministers to form a council to assist the young emperor.
Among these five, Yoshii Toranaga (based on Tokugawa Ieyasu) has an absolute advantage.
During Toyotomi Hideyoshi's tenure, Toranaga became the overlord of the Kanto region, and after Hideyoshi's death, Toranaga further expanded his fiefdom through political marriages, and his power grew day by day.
The disparity in power made the other four ministers very jealous.
So, the four of them struck first, and on the pretext of convening a meeting of the regents, they invited Toranoga to Osaka and imprisoned him.
Even if Hu Yong coerced the Son of Heaven to order the princes, he could not break the alliance of the other four, and a civil war was about to break out.
But at this moment, the arrival of the British crew John gave Tiger Yong a glimmer of life.
At that time, Japan was under the pressure of the Korean invasion and faced the spiritual control and colonization of the Portuguese missionaries.
Portugal, which pioneered the ocean-going expedition, spread Catholicism in Japan before Britain and the Netherlands, relying on the Jesuits to infiltrate the Japanese upper echelons, and at the same time sending firepower to the country through the Macao colony, in preparation for the full-scale colonization of Japan in the future.
The British and Dutch, which were on the rise in Europe, tried to challenge the colonial and maritime supremacy of Spain and Portugal, and they sent fleets to explore, plundering Spanish and Portuguese merchant ships and their colonies along the way, and they gained a lot.
John was one of the prominent members of the British fleet, and after many dangers, he drifted to Japan with a ship full of guns and gunpowder.
There was no doubt that the appearance of the British would be a devastating blow to the missionary cause of the Portuguese, and would change the political situation in the upper echelons of Japan.
For this reason, the local Jesuits repeatedly instigated the Japanese lords to execute John, and John was in danger for a time.
Only the thoughtful Tiger Yong realized the chaos of the war situation in Europe, and he secretly sent someone to protect John, confiscate all the gunpowder, and take John under his command to train the army for him.
All these plans and dormants laid the foundation for the victory of the Battle of Sekigahara, which shook the world a few years later.
After many magic changes and overturns, Hollywood, which aims at the history of Japan's Warring States period, seems to have found a trick of adaptation, abandoning the Westerner-centric shooting technique when filming "Shogun" forty years ago, and instead presenting the history of the Battle of Sekigahara from the perspective of the two male protagonists of John and Toranaga.
Through the perspective of the outsider John, the audience sees not only the intrigue of political power, but also the detailed customs, bloody feudal traditions and intriguing world.
The rows of street markets, orderly towns, samurai swords, shogun armor, and even Japanese martial customs all made John, who had just entered Japan, have a strong curiosity and freshness about this land with a century-old feudal tradition.
But after becoming a prisoner of war, he was forced to witness the barbarism, cruelty and violence of the Japanese.
After coming ashore, John, who was tied up, protested violently, and waited for a soak of urine poured on his face with the locals, who were very insulting.
Under the strict status hierarchy, the samurai class at the top of the pyramid would not hesitate to draw their swords and take the heads of civilians when they encountered civilians in their way.
The most horrific scene was the scene of the locals throwing the Western sailors on board into a boiling pot and cooking them alive.
In the face of absolute violence, John gave up his strategy of trying to negotiate, and knelt down to serve the Huyong family.
Of course, his willingness to cooperate was not only motivated by self-preservation, but also by his ability to use Huyong's political power to fight against the common enemy, the Portuguese Catholic Church.
As his life in Japan deepened, John's feelings for the land of Japan became more subtle and indiscerning.
He found that the Japanese place great emphasis on honor and loyalty, and that many samurai would commit suicide after saying the wrong thing or encountering a desperate situation, as a way to free their souls and prove their ultimate loyalty, loyalty, and innocence.
While shocked and puzzled by this cruel and glorious ritual, John also developed a trace of admiration for the samurai who were so angry that they died.
A further impact on John's worldview was Yoshii Toranaga, as a counterpart to Tokugawa Ieyasu, a historical figure whose decisive killing and forbearance of humiliation of a generation of heroes in Toranaga are hard to look at.
Knowing the danger and uncertainty of going to the Hongmen banquet, Hu Yong still went, and under the siege and provocation of many forces, he remained quiet, hid his ambitions, and did not let the other party find the slightest mistake, and set up the image of the lonely minister.
While in captivity, he deceived the other four lords by deceiving the world, left Osaka Castle, and immediately resigned as the regent's minister.
In the face of the provocation of the Jesuit side, he was unmoved by his thoughtfulness and insisted on recruiting talents.
In the process of continuous collision between Eastern and Western cultures, the relationship between John and Huyong also transitioned from initial confrontation and vigilance to cooperation, and finally became a monarch and minister.
In the history books, there are further records of the changes in the relationship between the two people, when Tokugawa Ieyasu once asked John's prototype Adams to return to his native England, and when he had the opportunity to return to China, Adams chose to give up voluntarily and has remained in Japan since then.
It is worth mentioning that there are also several female characters in the whole play, which broadens the spectrum of this epic conspiracy drama.
The heroine in charge of the translation, Madame Juzi, is smart and alert, and when Toranoga finds John, she understands his intentions and plans.
In the battle to escort the lord out of Osaka Castle, she fought to the death against the enemy, showing extraordinary courage.
Lady Fuji, who experienced the loss of both her husband and baby, endured her grief and lived strongly, serving her lord all the way.
It can be said that this is not a simple story about the struggle for male power, the series uses delicate brushstrokes and unique perspectives to portray the women in the cracks of history and the tragedy in them.
After the loss of her husband, Lady Vine accepted the lord's order to serve John, even if it was seriously contrary to her own heart and respect for the deceased, but the king's order could not be violated.
Madame Juko witnessed her husband gradually being devoured by enemy troops in order to protect the lord, but she could not express a trace of grief.
In the face of bloody and turbulent wars, women's bodies and courage are more likely to become tools for the superiors to manipulate people's hearts, and their own desires, pains, and softness are erased by the loyal discourse system, hidden behind the rolling tide of history, and they themselves are forced to accept such a fate that they don't care about, and become insignificant and soulless symbols in the war.
Having said that, although the quality of this co-production is high, the sexual and violent scenes depicted in the play, such as cooking and killing crew members and pouring urine on their faces, follow the stereotype of 16th-century Oriental barbarism, and many fictional plots are detached from historical facts, still satisfying the curious imagination of the Western world about Eastern culture.
The most criticized is John's typical image of a "white man savior".
He is at ease in power and strategy with his wisdom and courage, and is favored by the heroine because of his strong empathy, and has made important contributions to Huyong's turnaround because of his military mastery, and he can turn danger into a disaster every time.
On the whole, the grand epic narrative and the mysterious Oriental culture have been reduced to the background board that highlights the Western protagonists, and from this point of view, even if "Shogun" is quite epic in production and presentation, it is still limited to the level of "cool drama".