John Maclean has always had a love for western movies. The Scottish filmmaker debuted his first movie, Slow West, on the film festival circuit, but was also writing the story for another upcoming project. This time, he wanted the story to take place in Britain. The plot unfolds in the year 1790 and draws on characters who he felt as though haven’t gotten enough screen time over the years.
Blending Westerns with Samurai
Maclean wanted to give more screen time to bandits, circus performers, and, for some reason, samurai. It makes perfect sense, too, when you think about the success of westerns like Yellowstone and Horizon: An American Saga. Even Western games are big, including Red Dead Redemption.
As for the samurai element, Shogun was a huge hit, and games like Rise of the Rōnin also garnered a lot of attention over the last year. You also have the Pixel Samurai Betfair game. This game uses traditional symbols, including a yellow monk, red samurai, purple sumo, and green robin. With the Japanese-themed 1980s slot offering multiple bonuses too, it shows how possible it is to be creative with the theme as a whole, and how much potential there is. People do want Japan to be more represented in modern media, too, and the success of recent games and movies is helping to support that.
With that said, John Maclean came up with the idea of incorporating Samurai because he had recently immersed himself in the wonders of Japanese cinema. He loved a lot of Kurosawa’s movies, but also chose to analyze storytelling techniques present in Westerns. He also took note of how American Westerns, like Dances with Wolves, had a lot of to-and-fro, with his new Tornado movie combining all of these elements in the form of a British period drama.
Where was Tornado Filmed?
Tornado was shot on location, with a lot of the footage filmed in the Pentland Hills in 2023. Kōki, a Japanese actress, plays the main role. She’s part of a traveling circus but learns how to wield a sword. By the end of the movie, she uses it as a way to survive and make her way through the world. The movie also stars Takehiro Hira, who plays her father. He teaches her how to use the sword, with the actor also appearing in Shogun, the FX series.
He’s openly come out to say that he’s impressed with how much knowledge Maclean has of Japanese movies and television, and how this helped him to buy into the experience and give it his all. With the whole cast and crew being so passionate about the movie and everything it has to offer, it’s safe to say that this is a hidden gem for film fans across the world.
The intensive plot line combined with the interesting characters and genre-blending plot has helped to make it a standout movie that pushes the boundaries. With Maclean making waves in the film sector, it would not be surprising to see him take things one step further with his next project, something that we will have to wait a few more years for.
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