From time to time there are discussions on alternate film career directions for Akira Kurosawa, inarguably among the most influential directors in the history of cinema - Eastern or Western. (I'm something of a fan, of course.)
Even more frequently there appears discussion on alternate film adaptations of the Lord of the Rings saga by Tolkien and there are a wealth of possibilities here, as the story was in talks numerous times for numerous directors.
I was thinking just now of a bridge so hear me out:
What if Akira Kurosawa reads the Fellowship of the Ring (could he read English in the fifties or should this be an early, rough translation?) and decides he wants to direct a version of it in Japan in around, say, 1957. Tolkien is in the process of rejecting a script around that time, but wackypedia claims he was "enthusiastic about the film's concept art".
Making the understandable assumption that a Japanese adaptation of his work would be unlikely to spoil its integrity in the west, even if it was bad or not entirely true to the book, and hoping to increase sales once the book series is translated and published in the east, Tolkien agrees and sends Kurosawa notes - as well as the concept art. Kurosawa doesn't work on the Hidden Fortress, receives funding through deals with foreign studios, and asks Tomoyuki Tanaka (of Godzilla fame) to co-produce.
Kurosawa delivers a masterpiece widescreen vision which is released in 1958 and is wildly critically and commercially successful in Japan, and, (once a version has been colorized in high contrast and dubbed by British actors the following year) internationally, leading to him going on to direct the sequels as well.
Of course this version of "The Fellowship of the Ring" replaces "The Hidden Fortress" of OTL. A few things which would make it unique:
1. Japanese actors only will be used and the dialog, although very true to the book, is in Japanese unless it comes to words or names in Middle Earth languages (this would be important to Tolkien). Subtitles in the west, of course...
2. While let's just assume the costumes and set designs, etc. turn out similar at least to OTLs Jackson trilogy (while maybe a little more medeival knight-y), there would also be a pretty heavy Asian tilt to them. Kurosawa is the Samurai master after all.
3. The special effects should be outrageous. Like... Wizard of Oz good. Groundbreaking. Lots of Schufftan Process and matte painting and perhaps some tasteful animation? Puppetry could work as well in some cases. The forced perspective thing could occur here right? Thoughts?
My main questions are these:
A. Any ideas as to who the cast would be? Mifune is almost a given in some sort of role, but who? And who else? Feel free to use some of the Hidden Fortress cast if necessary.
B. There would certainly be more interest in an Anglo version if this version takes off in such a big way. How would the Japanese film industry be effected by such a dramatic boost in interest?
C. With such an enormous following in the east, as well as earlier Japanese translations, how does Japanese film and literature evolve with a sudden fascination with high fantasy, a fascination which, to my knowledge did not exist at that time or for quite a while...
and...
D. What are the general long term effects of such a production and what does it look like? How would Kurosawa have pulled off the scenes? How would Sergio Leone or George Lucas (to name two notable fans) have been inspired?
Help me out with some ideas!
Even more frequently there appears discussion on alternate film adaptations of the Lord of the Rings saga by Tolkien and there are a wealth of possibilities here, as the story was in talks numerous times for numerous directors.
I was thinking just now of a bridge so hear me out:
What if Akira Kurosawa reads the Fellowship of the Ring (could he read English in the fifties or should this be an early, rough translation?) and decides he wants to direct a version of it in Japan in around, say, 1957. Tolkien is in the process of rejecting a script around that time, but wackypedia claims he was "enthusiastic about the film's concept art".
Making the understandable assumption that a Japanese adaptation of his work would be unlikely to spoil its integrity in the west, even if it was bad or not entirely true to the book, and hoping to increase sales once the book series is translated and published in the east, Tolkien agrees and sends Kurosawa notes - as well as the concept art. Kurosawa doesn't work on the Hidden Fortress, receives funding through deals with foreign studios, and asks Tomoyuki Tanaka (of Godzilla fame) to co-produce.
Kurosawa delivers a masterpiece widescreen vision which is released in 1958 and is wildly critically and commercially successful in Japan, and, (once a version has been colorized in high contrast and dubbed by British actors the following year) internationally, leading to him going on to direct the sequels as well.
Of course this version of "The Fellowship of the Ring" replaces "The Hidden Fortress" of OTL. A few things which would make it unique:
1. Japanese actors only will be used and the dialog, although very true to the book, is in Japanese unless it comes to words or names in Middle Earth languages (this would be important to Tolkien). Subtitles in the west, of course...
2. While let's just assume the costumes and set designs, etc. turn out similar at least to OTLs Jackson trilogy (while maybe a little more medeival knight-y), there would also be a pretty heavy Asian tilt to them. Kurosawa is the Samurai master after all.
3. The special effects should be outrageous. Like... Wizard of Oz good. Groundbreaking. Lots of Schufftan Process and matte painting and perhaps some tasteful animation? Puppetry could work as well in some cases. The forced perspective thing could occur here right? Thoughts?
My main questions are these:
A. Any ideas as to who the cast would be? Mifune is almost a given in some sort of role, but who? And who else? Feel free to use some of the Hidden Fortress cast if necessary.
B. There would certainly be more interest in an Anglo version if this version takes off in such a big way. How would the Japanese film industry be effected by such a dramatic boost in interest?
C. With such an enormous following in the east, as well as earlier Japanese translations, how does Japanese film and literature evolve with a sudden fascination with high fantasy, a fascination which, to my knowledge did not exist at that time or for quite a while...
and...
D. What are the general long term effects of such a production and what does it look like? How would Kurosawa have pulled off the scenes? How would Sergio Leone or George Lucas (to name two notable fans) have been inspired?
Help me out with some ideas!
