BBC docudrama on Ieyasu (lotsa graphics)

[AJBryant]

Some of you may remember that Beeb documentary on Tokugawa Ieyasu I was doing the research for a while back.

Well...

It's here. They sent me a pre-release disc to admire.



I'm posting a few screenshots here. More can be found on this index page.

All things considered, it's pretty damned good for telling all the story in 59 minutes. There was a big script change from what I saw on paper to what is here -- now there's ongoing narration. Which I knew nothing of, BTW. Lots of Hagakure "what is loyalty? The duty of a samurai is blah blah" stuff. They even verbated "The way of the warrior is found in death" after Hidetada returns in disgrace, having missed the battle.

It's quite well done, though. Looks like a bigger cast and budget than one would think.





A lot of people get conflated to keep the story simple. Pity, but that's the result of the running time. The enemy is only Mitsunari -- No Môri of any stripe, no Ankokuji Ekei, no Ukita Hideie, no Shimazu brothers, no Otani Yoshitsugu... Even Uesugi Kagekatsu becomes "a samurai warlord in the east" in the narration. Most of Ieyasu's retainers and generals are conflated into Naomasa and Torii Mototada. (Below: Mototada's last stand in Fushimi)



They also really simplified it so EVERYONE flies either Ieyasu' banner (in red) or Mitsunari's (in lavender) (well, except for Hideaki's forces). Well, makes things easy for the beginners, I guess.



Still... Ieyasu says he's taking 30,000 men along the south road, and sending 40,000 under Hidetada along the north road. But... um... There's no mention of the thousands he's ALREADY sent under allied command. (Although it does mention Ii Naomasa is there to greet Ieyasu when he arrives.) Grrr. And apparently, ieyasu fought a "series of battles" along the way, picking off Mitsunari's allies. Grrr again.

Oh, yeah. There's a ninja attack on Ieyasu. Sigh. I tried to talk them out of it.



Here's the payoff, WAY down in the credits:



Yeah. After the secretary.

I feel like crying. Or throwing up. Maybe a little of both.

I gotta go. I need a drink.

Tony

[saraLynne]

That's awesome, I hope I catch it. I should set my TiVO to record it...

EDIT: You think they'll play it on BBC America? I don't think I get regular BBC on my box.

And now I have an itch to play Samurai Warriors.... ^_^

[AJBryant]

It will air (I believe) in April in the UK. It'll probably end up here on A&E or Discovery in the fall.


Tony

[prep_girl_Nessa]

Wow, that is so amazingly cool. Not gonna lie, I'm feeling slightly jealous at the moment. You're part of this big project, airing in different countries and everything man. That's totally sweet.

Looks like an interesting film, you say they keep it simple for beginners? I'll try to catch it then, since I don't really know anything about this stuff

[ss]

I hope I catch it too. Have to re-read Papa's four books again, Sekigahara especially. ^^;

[hyperconjugated]

Kudos, old man

[caroline]

TV or movies have to simplify, and thus frustrate those who know about something, frustation growing larger with knowledge!
I'm sure you'll live to it, and I'll certainly look for you in the credits! I'm sure we'll catch it sooner or later in froggy country.

[OitaFish]

Even the year long NHK dramas have to simplify things but if it gets people interested to learn more, maybe they have done some good.

AJBryant -- Congrats! I hope you're getting some royalties.

[AJBryant]

Well, they paid me very well to get to read a pile of Japanese books and regurgitate information.


Tony

[chikara]

Well done Tony.

Hopefully the ABC will show it down here sometime this year. They tend to pick up a lot of BBC docudramas.

[AJBryant]

I hope you'll get it. It really is spiff.

Tony

[Valatunda]

It will air (I believe) in April in the UK. It'll probably end up here on A&E or Discovery in the fall.

Close, it was on yesterday, BBC 2, 9:30 pm. However I didn’t really watch it. But if anyone missed it then it will be showing again on 1st April, early morning on BBC1. It might possibly be repeated some other time too.

It was also a Radio Times highlight.

[sei]

I'd really like to watch it. But only have Discovery here, so hopefully it will come there at some point...

[two_heads_talking]

Any update on the airing time Tony? I would certainly love to watch that..

[yuhei]

I am just telling..
watched the drana and enjoyed!