MovieChat Forums > Cosmo Jarvis Discussion > Cosmo Jarvis - Brilliant job as John Bl...

Cosmo Jarvis - Brilliant job as John Blackthorne in "Shogun".

posted 13 days ago by TrentnQuarantino (8581)
2 replies | jump to latest

It is sad that the script and production did not quite meet the mark of his excellence, or Anna Sawai as Mariko, or even Hiroyuki Sanada as Toranaga.

Good acting jobs, and very nice sets and surroundings ... a little rainy and dreary. The story got a bit muddled, but worth watching.

Cosmo Jarvis sounded so exactly like Richard Burton that I don't think it could have been a coincidence, but the accent and manner was perfect for his character.

[–] 4Freedom (143) 12 days ago

Agreed. I think he did well in Shogun.

[–] TrentnQuarantino (8581) 12 days ago

My one criticism would be that this guy, Cosmo Jarvis, was Armenian, Middle Eastern, and though he did a very creditable job as an English sailor, pilot, if it was true to history he probably would have had a very light complexion and very red hair.

Here is a painting from Wikipedia that would probably have been more accurate.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Jan-Joosten-van_Lodensteyn-and-William-Adams-with-Ship-Liefde-first-encounter-in-Kyushu-Japan-1600.png

Coming from the Southeast of England, he probably would have looked like Eric Clapton or David Bowie, Peter Finch or Gary Oldman, not a Middle Eastern dude.