We know that Hollywood loves a remake. But who could have predicted that a remake of Shōgun, of all things, would end up as the best thing to be shown on television all year? Maybe in terms of numbers it made sense. After all, it was a remake of a 1980 NBC miniseries which at the time garnered the second highest viewing figures in TV history. That, in turn, was based on a book by James Clavell that had shifted millions of copies. The popularity of Shōgun was never been in doubt.
But as a thing to remake? In 2024? Yeesh. In both previous forms, Shōgun was a story about a white saviour: Englishman John Blackthorne, who travels to Japan, “civilises” some savages, teaches them how to fight properly, repeatedly saves the life of an apparently very clumsy general and then has sex with the most beautiful woman in town. Clavell’s novel also took wild liberties with historical reality, ramping up the otherness of 1600s Japan in its attitudes to violence, sex and death. You don’t need to be told that none of this would have played well in today’s landscape.
