"There's a saying around here, every man has three hearts: one in his mouth, to speak to the world. Another in his chest, for friends only. And a secret heart, buried deep inside."
It's Shōgun", the long-awaited global event series from FX, whose spectacular trailer was shown at the Super Bowl, which will debut on Tuesday 27 February on Disney+ in Italy. The series consisting of 10 episodes will arrive with the first two, followed by a new episode every week. The original adaptation of the bestselling novel of the same name by James Clavell was co-created by Rachel Kondo and Justin Mark, and is set in feudal Japan in the 1600s, at the dawn of a civil war that will mark a century. same producer Hiroyuki Sanada plays Lord Yoshii Toranaga who is fighting for his life, while his enemies in the Council of Regents gang up against him.When a mysterious European ship is found abandoned in a nearby fishing village, its English pilot, John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis), brings with him secrets that could help Toranaga turn the tide of power and destroy the fearsome presence of Blackthorne's enemies, the Jesuit priests and Portuguese merchants.
The destinies of the two become inextricably linked to their interpreter, the beautiful Toda Mariko (Anna Sawai), a mysterious Christian noblewoman, the last of a lineage that has fallen into disgrace.
As she serves her lord in this difficult political landscape, Mariko must reconcile her newfound bond with Blackthorne, her commitment to the faith that saved her, and her duty to her deceased father .
Shōgun is not the first television adaptation of Clavell's novel.
NBC had already thought about it in 1980, involving actors Richard Chamberlain and Toshiro Mifune.
A popular drama which enjoyed enormous success with audiences and critics in the United States and beyond with over 20 million viewers and three Emmy wins.
The series features an acclaimed Japanese cast, unprecedented for an American production, including Tadanobu Asano as Kashigi Yabushige, a notorious traitor and close ally of Toranaga;
Hiroto Kanai as Kashigi Omi, the young leader of the fishing village where Blackthorne's ship is found;
Takehiro Hira as Ishido Kazunari, a powerful bureaucrat who is Toranaga's main rival;
Moeka Hoshi as Usami Fuji, a widow who must find new purpose in the midst of her lord's war;
Tokuma Nishioka as Toda Hiromatsu, Toranaga's trusted general and closest friend;
Shinnosuke Abe as Toda Hirokatsu ("Buntaro"), Mariko's jealous husband;
Yuki Kura as Yoshii Nagakado, the cheeky son of Toranaga who has a strong desire to get involved;
Yuka Kouri as Kiku, a courtesan renowned throughout Japan for her artistic skill and Fumi Nikaido as Ochiba no Kata, the revered mother of the heir who will stop at nothing to put an end to Toranaga and the his threat to his son's power.
In 2018, FX Productions sent screenwriter Justin Marks a copy of James Clavell's mammoth historical book, Shōgun.
For FX, as Variety points out, it represented a new beginning for a troubled project, from which various teams of writers had passed.
Justin Marks was an emerging talent, coming off two seasons of his acclaimed spy drama Counterpart and the 2016 remake of The Jungle Book. “It's like 1,200 pages,” Marks said of the book.
Marks' wife, Rachel Kondo, a short story writer, took the book.
Hers was a full immersion of "eight hours a day for three weeks" immersed in the world of Clavell.
A world totally different from what they had seen and seen again in many American entertainment products, explain Marks and Kondo interviewed by Variety.
The two, Marks and Kondo, came to the project as co-creators and embarked on a years-long development process followed by a laborious 10-month shoot.
FX is fresh off an Emmy triumph in the comedy categories with its hit The Bear.
Now it's Shōgun's turn, which presents itself as an opportunity for the entertainment industry to attempt to replicate the splendor of Game of Thrones.
Reproduction reserved © Copyright ANSA