“In the latter part of the 19th century, Japan opened up to trade with the West. Merchant adventurers came from all over the world, many of them English. Some traded in silk and rice and lived in enclaves around the "treaty ports". They brought their families and their followers and created private mini-empires where they sought to embrace this extraordinary culture, its beauties and its dangers…” (Text on screen) Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Branagh uses 19th-century Japan to imagine a culturally diverse Shakespeare, As You Like It, in which the play's feudal lords of medieval France now find themselves lords of mini-empires created by English colonizers in Japan. These lords are not originally of noble blood but are wealthy, opportunistic merchants who have reinvented themselves as royalty. Far from European social norms, this reinvention facilitates the possibility not only of a black lord but also of his pairing with the daughter of a white duke. Although the time, place, and races have changed, Branagh retains the original Shakespearean language. Although slavery had been abolished in France by the end of the 18th century, blacks were still seen as an inferior race. But just as the forest is outside the conventions of the court, a colonial outpost in Japan also has different conventional parameters and cultural hierarchies than the French aristocracy. So there's a lot of cultural and racial flexibility in the film. As stated by the opening text on the screen, we see that the European colonizers have almost adapted Japanese culture. But even in the first scene, when they are watching a kabuki play and the military coup is staged, Oliver stands apart from the other white characters who are sitting in a group. There is a hint of exclusion or an imaginary boundary that he can't seem to cross. For their part, the Japanese characters have very marginal roles in the film and have problematic characterizations. Charles, who in the film is a sumo wrestler rather than a boxer, remains essentially silent in his conversation with Orlando; all of his lines are spoken by a white man. Phoebe is stubborn and superficial. She embodies Nietzsche's idea of ​​the woman, that is: "When you go to a woman, take your whip!" She cruelly rejects Silvio but falls for Rosalind's criticism, which in turn becomes a problem. Although he uses the same lines as the play, the features described as ugly are "inky eyebrows, black hair" – characteristic Asian features. So, the whole scene almost borders on racism. Almost as if reflecting these racial constructs, Edward Said in his book Orientalism discusses how non-Europeans are treated as Others to display white supremacy and civility. William is portrayed as a naive Japanese farmer who is a silent bystander, ridiculed and physically abused by Touchstone until he runs away. Touchstone here asserts his manhood and his entitlement towards Audrey not only by using wit but by actually using physical violence. The white court fool, who belongs to a lower hierarchy among the European colonizers, asserts his superiority over an Asian character. Duke Frederick, the antagonist, like his samurai soldiers has black samurai hair and wears black samurai clothes. But when it converts and civilises, its appearance becomes Europeanised. The film also uses elements of Chinese culture such as the feng shui meditation garden and characters performing tai chi to represent, or misrepresent, Japanese culture..