Hirohito

The Sun (film)From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search The Sun




Russian release poster

Directed by Alexander Sokurov

Produced by Igor Kallenof

Marco Muller

Andrei Sigle

Alexander Rodnyansky

Written by Yuri Arabov

Jeremy Noble

Starring Issei Ogata

Robert Dawson

Music by Andrei Sigle

Cinematography Alexander Sokurov

Editing by Sergei Ivanov

Release date(s) 2005

Running time 115 minutes

Language Japanese

English



The Sun (Russian: Сóлнце, Solntse) is a 2005 Russian biographical film depicting Japanese Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) during the final days of World War II. The film is the third drama in director Aleksandr Sokurov's trilogy, which included Taurus about the Soviet Union's Vladimir Lenin and Moloch about Nazi Germany's Adolf Hitler.[1]



Contents [hide]

1 Plot

2 Cast

3 Production

3.1 Filming

4 References

5 External links





Plot [edit]Towards the conclusion of the Second World War, Japan nears defeat as Emperor Hirohito (Issei Ogata) reminisces on the past while being held up in a bunker underneath his Imperial Palace in Tokyo. Hirohito reflects on the foundation of the conflict while attempting to dictate peace terms. Later, U.S. military commander General Douglas MacArthur (Robert Dawson) is sent to bring him through the ruins of Tokyo for a meeting regarding the occupation of the victorious Allied leaders. The two very different men strangely bond after sharing dinner and cigars, after which Hirohito retreats to his personal quarters. Following his admission of personal failures, Hirohito attempts to rebuild his war-ravaged country as a fully developed constitutional nation while his own future remains in doubt, as either the Emperor of Japan or a war criminal.



Cast [edit]Issei Ogata as Emperor Hirohito

Robert Dawson as General Douglas MacArthur

Kaori Momoi as Empress Kōjun

Shiro Sano as the Chamberlain

Shinmei Tsuji as the Old Servant

Taijiro Tamura as the Scientist

Georgi Pitskhelauri as McArthur's Warrant Officer

Hiroya Morita as Kantarō Suzuki

Toshiaki Nishizawa as Mitsumasa Yonai

Naomasa Musaka as Korechika Anami

Yusuke Tozawa as Kōichi Kido

Kōjirō Kusanagi as Shigenori Tōgō

Tetsuro Tsuno as Yoshijirō Umezu

Rokuro Abe as Soemu Toyoda

Jun Haichi as Nobuyuki Abe

Production [edit]Filming [edit]Having confessed himself in "not being interested in the history or politics which took place, and not really being interested in historical events of the period",[2] Sokurov gives a personal impression of Hirohito while omitting all references to questions surrounding the Tokyo tribunal regarding the personal responsibility of the emperor as head of the Imperial General Headquarters in relation to Japanese war crimes. Due to this omission, the character interactions in the film are reflected in such a way that the imperial conference between the emperor and his council along with the meeting between Hirohito and MacArthur, are in fact none of the words related to imperial interpreter Katsuzō Okumura's transcript. As noted by Okumura, the general praised the emperor's "august virtue" (miitsu).[3]



According to The Times, the film has not been widely screened in Japan due to fears of violence from right wing extremists over its portrayal of Hirohito.



References [edit]1.^ The Sun (Solntse) (2005) Reviewed by Jamie Woolley bbc.co.uk

2.^ Aesthetic choices: Aleksandr Sokurov’s The Sun World Socialist Web Site

3.^ John Dower, Embracing Defeat, 1999, p.296

External links [edit]The Sun at the Internet Movie Database

The Sun at Rotten Tomatoes

The Dream Director film review by Daniel Mendelsohn from The New York Review of Books