Pacific Overtures (1976 TV Movie)
Mako: Reciter, Shogun, Jonathan Goble
Quotes
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[last lines]
Reciter : Nippon - the Floating Kingdom. There was a time when foreigners were not welcome here, but that was long ago. A hundred and twenty years. Welcome to Japan.
Company : Next! Next! Brilliant notions! Still improving! Next! Next! Make the motions! Keep it moving! Next! Next! Next!
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Reciter : Nippon! The floating kingdom! An island empire, which for centuries has lived in perfect peace, undisturbed by intruders from across the sea. Here, in the month of July, Eighteen hundred and fifty three, there is nothing to threaten the serene, and changeless cycle of our days.
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Reciter : A haiku: A gift unearned, and unexpected, often has a hidden price.
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Reciter : [sung] In the middle of the world we float/ in the middle of the sea/ The realities remain remote/ in the middle of the sea. Kings are burning somewhere/ Wheels are turning somewhere/ Trains are being run, wars are being won, things are being done/ Somewhere out there - not here. Here we paint screens; Yes! The arrangement of the screens.
[claps]
Reciter : We sit inside the screens/ and contemplate the view/ that's painted on the screens/ more beautiful than true/ And no one presses in/ and no one glances out. And kings are burning somewhere - not here!
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Reciter : Yes! The arrangement of the bows. First, for the Emperor, descendant of the sun goddess Amaterasu, all-knowing and all-powerful, ruler absolute! One year old. Second, for the Shogun, protector of the kingdom, keeper of the peace. Seldom seen. Third, for the Lords of the South, vassals to the Shogun, loyal to their master. Not for long.
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Reciter : They come from a land of mystery, behind the setting sun - Barbarians with hooked noses, like mountain imps, giants with coarse hair and faces gray as the dead. Americans! Look how they glare! Look how they aim their sorcerer's weapons directly at us. Oh look! Their leader, Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry! Surely he is the king of the demons, come to strike us blind and devour our children! In this desperate hour, who will save Japan?
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Madam : I own a small commercial venture, with a modest clientele - In Kanagawa.
Girls : I think I see one over there behind the trees...
Madam : Shh! It's been my family's for centuries, and doing very well. For Kanagawa.
Girls : I hear they're covered all with hair like some disease...
Madam : Shh!
Girls : Except their knees.
Madam : Sh! The arrival of these giants, out of the blue, bringing panic to my clients, alters my view. With so many of them fleeing, conferring, decreeing, I find myself agreeing with the ancient haiku...
Reciter : The nest building bird/ Seeing the tree without twigs/ Looks for new forests.
Madam : Exactly!
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Reciter : No one knows what was said behind the shutters of the Treaty House. The Shogun's councilors kept their story secret, and though the westerners have their own official version, I would not believe a word of it. What a shame there is no authentic Japanese account of what took place on that historic day.
Old Man : Pardon me, I was there.
Reciter : You were where?
Old Man : At the treaty house.
Reciter : At the treaty house.
Old Man : There was a tree...
Reciter : Which was were?
Old Man : Over here. Maybe over there, but there were trees then everywhere... may I show you?
Reciter : If you please.
Old Man : There were trees then everywhere!
Reciter : But you were there?
Old Man : And I was there! May I show you?
Reciter : If you please.
Old Man : I was younger then... I was good at climbing trees... I was younger then... I saw everything! I was hidden all the time... it was easier to climb. I was younger then. I saw everything - where they came, and where they went; I was part of the event; I was someone in a tree. I was younger then...
Boy : [the tree appears, and the Old Man's younger self runs on]
Boy : Tell him what I see!
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Boy : Someone reads a list from a box.
Samurai : Someone talks of laws.
Old Man : Then they fan a bit.
Boy : Someone bangs a fist!
Samurai : Someone knocks.
Old Man : Now there was a pause.
Samurai , Old Man , Boy : Then they argue it.
Samurai : 'But we want, no you can't, and we won't, but we need it, and we want, will you grant, if you don't we concede it,' I can hear them...
Old Man : And they sat through the night and they lit yellow tapers, I was there then...
Boy : And they chat, and they light, and they sit signing papers, I am there still - If I weren't whose to say, that they're happening?
Reciter , Samurai , Old Man , Boy : It's the fragment not the day/ It's the pebble, not the stream/ It's the ripple not the sea/ That is happening/ Not the building but the beam/ Not the garden but the stone/ Only cups of tea/ And history/ And someone in a tree!
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British Admiral : Please, hello I come with letters from her Majesty Victoria, who learning how you're trading now sang Hallelujah Gloria, and sent me to convey to you her positive euphoria, as well as little gifts from Britain's various emporia.
Reciter : The man has come with letters from her Majesty Victoria, as well as little gifts from Britain's various emporia.
Abe - First Councillor : Tea?
British Admiral : For drink.
Abe - First Councillor : I see. I thank you...
British Admiral : I think, her letters do contain a few proposals to your emperor, which if of course he won't endorse will put her in a temper, or more happily should he agree would serve to keep her placid, or at least till I am followed by a permanent ambassador!
Reciter : A treaty port and from the court a permanent ambassador, A treaty port and from the court a permanent ambassador, A treaty port and from the court a permanent ambassador and more!
British Admiral : Her Majesty considers the arrangement to be tentative, until we ship a proper diplomatic representative. We don't foresee that you will be the least bit argumentative, so please ignore the man-of-war we've brought as a preventative.
[cannon fires]
Reciter : Yes, please ignore the man-of-war that's anchored rather near to shore, it's nothing but a metaphor that acts as a preventative.
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Reciter : [as Emperor Meiji] The day when others speak for me is past! From now on, my word shall be law, and mine alone. I am the Emperor Meijii! Rise and listen - rise! No more will we draw sword, one Japanese against another. Those who have committed murder in my name have been misguided. In the future they will be restrained - along with those who have encouraged them! Rise! From this day forth, all Samurai will put aside their swords, and cease to wear their crested robes. They will take up useful trades. Rise! Yes - in the name of progress, we will turn our backs on ancient ways, cast aside our feudal forms, eliminate all obstacles which hinder our development! We will organize an army and a navy, equipped with the most modern weapons. And when the time is right, we will send forth expeditions to visit with our less enlightened neighbors. We will open up Formosa, Korea, Manchuria, and China. We will do for the rest of Asia what America has done for us!
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Company : Streams are flowing/ See what's coming/ Next!
Reciter : We will build railroads, foundries, telegraphs, steamships!
Company : Winds are blowing/ See what's coming/ see what's going/ Next!
Reciter : Factories will spring up all across our land!
Company : Roads are turning/ Journey with them/ A little learning/ Next!
Reciter : Foreign architects will reconstruct our cities!
Company : Waters churning/ lightning flashes/ Kings are burning/ sift the ashes/ Next!
Reciter : The day will come when the western powers will acknowledge us as their undisputed equals!
Company : Tower tumbles, tower rises/ Next!
Reciter : And all of this will be achieved sooner than you think.
Company : Tower crumbles/ Man revises/ Motor rumbles/ Civilizes/ More surprises/ Next! Learn the lesson from the master/ Add the sugar, spread the plaster/ Do it nicer, do it faster! Next!
Reciter : The practical bird, having no tree of it's own, borrows another's.
