Whoah

[james_davis_nicoll]

Apparently there's an American movie about the 47 Ronin coming out. Aside from the lead (Keanu Reaves) the the cast seems to be Japanese, and it's still set in 18th-century Japan.

Are American film companies allowed to make faithful adaptations of foreign stories? I thought an egregious disrespect for other nations and an essential contempt mixed with distrust of their audience was a core part of their values.

Ah, here we go:

Reeves's character is half-Japanese and half-British; the character was created for the film.

So it could be a variation on Mighty Whitey, where Reaves' half-British characters inspires the Ronin to do that which they historically did on their own. At least, I don't see a production company hiring him and then handing him a role like Kikuchiyo in The Seven Samurai.

Comments

[goingferal.livejournal.com]

From Wikipedia:

Reeves was born in Beirut, Lebanon, the son of Patricia Bond (née Taylor), a costume designer/performer, and Samuel Nowlin Reeves, Jr. His mother was English and his father was a Hawaiian-born American of Native Hawaiian, English, Irish, Portuguese, and Chinese descent.