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Lionsgate Taps ‘Highlander’ Creator To Script Film On First Black Samurai

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O

Oersted

Member
Yasuke lived in the mid-1500s, and history on his origins and exactly how he came to become a sword for a warlord named Oda Nobunaga is a bit fuzzy. Widen said what is known is that he was the only known African to reach that rank in feudal Japan, and it is a strong point of entry for a period action film that can build a compelling action narrative around history. It’s not Widen’s first hack at swordplay fare. He hatched the mythology and co-wrote the 1986 film Highlander, about the ageless immortal Scottish swordsman.
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None of the Japanese had seen a black-skinned person before, and Widen said they initially tried to scrub him, believing the color would come off his skin. Yasuke, conflicted about the violence of his past when he got to Japan, embraced samurai culture and became a useful warrior for the warlord, Widen said. “He became a samurai warrior,” Widen said. “They presented him with a blade, and he went to work.”
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More here

https://deadline.com/2017/03/lionsg...cript-film-on-first-black-samurai-1202049635/

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B

buddha0991

Member
This could be cool if done well.

This is Nioh's depiction of Yasuke BTW

C3JDsHFWEAAUQt9.jpg
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lightskintwin said:
There's a Black samurai in Nioh?
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Yasuke himself is in Nioh
 
S

Sgt. Kabukiman

Banned
Weird, I was reading about his original Highlander script just two days ago. I wonder when they'll finally reboot that.
Anyway this definitely sounds like great material for a film.
 
M

MetroidPrimeRib

Banned
Yasuke is a fucking badass historical character. Oda Nobunaga himself made him a retainer and samurai because the Japanese had never seen an African before and his dark skin and height (reportedly around 6 foot back then) fascinated Nobunaga.

Its somewhat parading around Africans as a curiosity and property (whats the opposite of Orientalism?) but dude was a Samurai for Oda fucking Nobunaga.
 
V

Vibranium

Banned
The cool thing is because his origin and the end of his life are unknown it allows the movie a lot of leeway to create a narrative. Hope it can be good.
 
J

JonnyDBrit

Member
buddha0991 said:
This could be cool if done well.

This is Nioh's depiction of Yasuke BTW





Yasuke himself is in Nioh
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Funny enough back in the old thread debating why William Adams was chosen as the focal point character of the game, a small discussion was had on how the vagaries of Yasuke's life could lend itself to some cool possibilities.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=230067339&postcount=189

Nice to see someone in Hollywood agree with that general sentiment. I'd be in for a Yasuke film. Though, this line from the article did confuse me for a bit:
“[Black Samurai] is based on the true story of an African whose journey to Japan comes with conflicting background stories,” Widen said. “The one I’ve chosen is that he was a slave soldier after the fall of Abysinnian Bengal, a black kingdom run by Ethiopians."
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As best as I can find, this is apparently a reference to a brief period in the Sultanate of Bengal where Abyssinian (Ethiopian) generals, previously in the service of the local Sultans, took over Bengal. Only lasted seven years though, and given the likely demographics of the wider population, calling it a 'black kingdom' seems a little odd.
 
L

Lonewolf_92

Member
MetroidPrimeRib said:
Yasuke is a fucking badass historical character. Oda Nobunaga himself made him a retainer and samurai because the Japanese had never seen an African before and his dark skin and height (reportedly around 6 foot back then) fascinated Nobunaga.

Its somewhat parading around Africans as a curiosity and property (whats the opposite of Orientalism?) but dude was a Samurai for Oda fucking Nobunaga.
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That would be occidentalism.

On topic, if there was one person I would trust with this, it would be the creator of Highlander.
 
J

JonnyDBrit

Member
The Last Wizard said:
Wait! There were Africans in feudal Japan?! Anyone know books or resources on this, would love to learn more.
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Not many, owing to the sheer distances involved - as mentioned it was primarily portuguese traders bringing them along as slaves. Meanwhile with Yasuke, while it's known he was African, a samurai, and in the service of Oda Nobunaga, there's not much in the way of other details available. However, such is part of what makes the movie potential so interesting - you can basically do next to anything and it wouldn't be technically ahistorical.
 
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