There had been numerous attempts to film Tai Pan over the years. Frans Dames as a British officer and merchant.Phil Chatterton (tongplaw) as Boatswain.The first favor is called in later in the novel, by the pirate Wu Kwok.

When a half coin is presented to Struan that matches his own half, he is obligated to do a favor to the bearer. Struan's meeting with Jin Qua early in the film to obtain the forty lac dollars of silver to pay Brock omits Jin Qua's stipulation that four special coins be broken in half, with Struan keeping four halves and the other four being distributed by Jin Qua. While the film follows a similar structure as the novel, one major and notable event is left out. Brock, owner of the second largest of the trading companies, constantly vies to destroy Struan's company and reputation in an attempt to both exact revenge on Struan and become the new 'Tai-Pan' of Chinese trade. Struan is referred to as tai-pan (which author Clavell translates as 'Supreme Leader', although this is not the accepted translation of the term) indicating his position as head of the largest and most profitable of all the trading companies operating in Asia. Throughout, both men seek to destroy each other in matters of business and personal affairs.

Their rocky and often abusive relationship as seamen initiated an intense amount of competitive tension. Although the island is largely uninhabited and the terrain unfriendly, it has a large port that both the British government and various trading companies believe will be useful for the import of merchandise to be traded on mainland China, a highly lucrative market.Īlthough the film features many characters, it is arguably Dirk Struan and Tyler Brock, former shipmates and the owners of two massive (fictional) trading companies who are the main focal points of the story. In 1842, the British have achieved victory of the First Opium War and seized Hong Kong. Duke believed that a mini-series à la Shōgun or Noble House would have been a far superior means of covering the complexity of Clavell's novel. The results fared poorly at the box office and in critical reviews. The De Laurentiis Entertainment Group handled the production and were actively seen battling the Chinese Government and Labor boards over the film during shooting. Filmed under communist Chinese censorship, some portions of Clavell's story were considered too offensive to be filmed as written and considerable changes were made. While many of the same characters and plot twists are maintained, a few smaller occurrences are left out. Tai-Pan is a 1986 adventure drama film directed by Daryl Duke, loosely based on James Clavell's 1966 novel of the same name.

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