Marks: It’s identical to how he’s portrayed in the book. That’s so amazing to me. It’s a pretty bold ending, after 1,200 pages, to come down to that moment. The only difference is that Toranaga reveals that secret heart to the reader and the reader alone. In our story, we wanted it to be with Yabushige as he beckons his death because we knew we were sending Yabushige into oblivion. So it was the perfect well to whisper into, to use In the Mood for Love terminology.
Tokugawa Ieyasu, the real-life model for Toranaga, is a revered figure in world history and Japanese history. He’s someone who impacted 260 years of peace after a century of civil war, and he constructed Edo, which would later become Tokyo. That’s no small feat. We want to give a great man his due, if you will. Having said that—and maybe it’s a modern thing—I always feel in the back of my mind this concern when it comes to how we tell stories and craft the mythology of great men. It was part of the reason we reminded the audience of Fuji’s baby, who had to die so Tokyo could someday live.
look right before the end
