Emperor (2012 film)

Last updated

Emperor
Emperor (Film).jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Peter Webber
Written byVera Blasi
David Klass
Based onHis Majesty's Salvation
by Shiro Okamoto
Produced byRuss Krasnoff
Gary Foster
Yoko Narahashi
Eugene Nomura
Starring Tommy Lee Jones
Matthew Fox
Eriko Hatsune
Toshiyuki Nishida
Masatoshi Nakamura
Kaori Momoi
Colin Moy
Cinematography Stuart Dryburgh
Edited by Chris Plummer
Music by Alex Heffes
Production
companies
Krasnoff Foster Productions
United Performers' Studio
Distributed by Roadside Attractions and Lionsgate (United States)
Shochiku (Japan)
Release dates
  • September 14, 2012 (2012-09-14)(TIFF)
  • March 8, 2013 (2013-03-08)(United States)
  • July 27, 2013 (2013-07-27)(Japan)
Running time
105 minutes [1]
CountriesUnited States
Japan
LanguagesEnglish
Japanese
Box office$14.9 million [2]

Emperor is a 2012 American-Japanese [3] historical drama film directed by Peter Webber. Tommy Lee Jones and Matthew Fox star in lead roles as General Douglas MacArthur and Brigadier General Bonner Fellers respectively.

Contents

Plot

Brigadier General Bonner Fellers is sent to Japan as a part of the occupation force. He is tasked with arresting Japanese war criminals, including former Prime Minister Hideki Tojo. Before he departs, he privately orders his Japanese interpreter and driver, Takahashi, to locate his Japanese girlfriend, Aya Shimada.

After arresting Tojo, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, General Douglas MacArthur, informs Fellers that Emperor Hirohito is being shielded from war crimes trials, despite the American people wanting him to answer for Japan's actions. Prosecuting him could lead to a revolt, so MacArthur gives Fellers ten days to investigate the Emperor to decide the occupation force's next steps. Takahashi informs Fellers that Aya's Tokyo apartment was bombed, and is ordered to investigate her hometown, Shizuoka.

Fellers and his staff compile a list of high-profile Japanese officials who advised Emperor Hirohito at the start of the war. Finding no American collaborators among them, they start by interrogating Tojo, who gives them the name of Fumimaro Konoe, the former prime minister. Fellers asks Konoe if the Emperor was responsible for starting the war and Konoe gives no conclusive evidence, but directs Fellers to Kōichi Kido, Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal.

Fellers waits to meet with Kido, who eventually reneges out of fear of retribution. Fellers recalls his 1940 visit to Tokyo when he reunited with Aya, then an English teacher; she returned to Japan after her father's death. After a banquet at MacArthur's residence, Takahashi informs Fellers that Shizuoka was bombed. Fellers immediately travels there, before ordering Takahashi to find a list of the dead.

Fellers recalls his visit to Aya's uncle, General Kajima, for help with a paper on the mindset of the Japanese soldier. Kajima insists that Japan would win a war against the US, because of the Japanese soldier's sense of duty to the Emperor. When Fellers returns to Tokyo, he decides he must interview Teizaburō Sekiya, a member of the Privy Council, who, like all others, gives no evidence to exonerate the Emperor.

Later, Kido unexpectedly arrives in the middle of the night to give his testimony. Before the Japanese surrender, the Supreme Council's deadlock between those in favor of surrender and those who opposed it led the Emperor to address the Council. Because there were radical militarists in the Imperial Army, the Emperor made an audio recording of his order to surrender.

Before the recording could be broadcast, the militarists attempted a coup and attacked the Imperial Palace. The Emperor and Kido survived and broadcast the recording. Unfortunately for Fellers, all other witnesses committed suicide and all records were destroyed, leaving him only with Kido's testimony. Kido informs Fellers that, though the Emperor's role is, in actuality, a ceremonial one, the Emperor was critical in ending the war.

Fellers decides to visit General Kajima, who explains to Fellers that the Japanese people's selflessness and strong devotion to cultural values drives them to both great sacrifice and unspeakable crimes. Kajima does not know if the Emperor is guilty, but emphasizes his role in ending the war. He gives Fellers a box of folded letters from Aya addressed to him; Aya died in an Allied bombing raid.

Fellers concludes that the Emperor's guilt or innocence cannot be known, but his role in ending the war was undeniable and significant. He gives his report to MacArthur, who is displeased by the lack of conclusive evidence. Fellers argues the Emperor should be exonerated as the Allies agreed to allow Japan to keep him as the head of state.

MacArthur orders Fellers to arrange a meeting between him and the Emperor. Before the Emperor arrives, Fellers confesses to MacArthur his role in diverting Allied bombers away from Shizuoka for personal reasons; MacArthur dismisses it because it cost no American lives. When Emperor Hirohito arrives, he offers himself to be punished alone in Japan's stead. MacArthur states he has no intention of punishing Japan or Hirohito, and wishes to discuss collaborating towards Japan's reconstruction.

Cast

Production

Principal photography began shooting in January 2012 in New Zealand.

Scenes used were shot on location at RNZAF Base Whenuapai and some Air Force personnel used as extras for the movie. [4]

Release

The film premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival [5] and saw a limited release in the United States on March 8, 2013. Producer Gary Foster, Matthew Fox and Tommy Lee Jones attended a Japanese premiere along with several Japanese actors and actresses on July 18, 2013, [6] preceding its opening in the cinemas nationwide in Japan on July 27. [7]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 32% of 91 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.2/10.The website's consensus reads: "Despite a typically strong performance from Tommy Lee Jones, Emperor does little with its fascinating historical palate, and is instead bogged down in a clichéd romantic subplot." [8] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 48 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hirohito</span> Emperor of Japan from 1926 to 1989

Hirohito, posthumously honored as Emperor Shōwa, was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from 1926 until his death in 1989. He was one of the longest-reigning monarchs in the world, with his reign of 62 years being the longest of any Japanese emperor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fumimaro Konoe</span> Japanese politician (1891–1945)

Prince Fumimaro Konoe was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1937 to 1939 and from 1940 to 1941. He presided over the Japanese invasion of China in 1937 and the breakdown in relations with the United States, which ultimately culminated in Japan's entry into World War II. He also played a central role in transforming his country into a totalitarian state by passing the State General Mobilization Law and founding the Imperial Rule Assistance Association while dissolving all other political parties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constitution of Japan</span> Supreme law of Japan

The Constitution of Japan is the supreme law in the state. It was written primarily by American civilian officials working under the Allied occupation of Japan after World War II. The current Japanese constitution was promulgated as an amendment of the Meiji Constitution of 1890 on 3 November 1946 when it came into effect on 3 May 1947.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hiranuma Kiichirō</span> Japanese politician (1867–1952)

Kiichirō Hiranuma was a Japanese lawyer and politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan in 1939.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mitsumasa Yonai</span> Japanese admiral and politician; Prime Minister of Japan (1940)

Mitsumasa Yonai was a Japanese navy officer and politician. He served as admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy, Minister of the Navy, and Prime Minister of Japan in 1940.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kuniaki Koiso</span> Prime Minister of Japan from 1944 to 1945

Kuniaki Koiso was a Japanese politician, military leader and convicted war criminal who served as prime minister of Japan from 1944 to 1945 during World War II. He previously served as governor-general of Korea from 1942 to 1944.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni</span> Japanese prince and prime minister

Naruhiko, Prince Higashikuni was a Japanese imperial prince, a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Army and the 30th Prime Minister of Japan from 17 August 1945 to 9 October 1945, a period of 54 days. He is the shortest-serving prime minister, resigning after eight weeks. An uncle-in-law of Emperor Hirohito twice over, Prince Higashikuni was the only member of the Japanese imperial family to head a cabinet and was the last general officer of the Imperial Japanese military to become Prime Minister. He was the founder of the Chiba Institute of Technology. He was one of the longest-lived members of any royal family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bonner Fellers</span> United States Army general (1896–1973)

Brigadier General Bonner Frank Fellers was a United States Army officer who served during World War II as a military attaché and director of psychological warfare. He is notable as the military attaché in Egypt whose extensive transmissions of detailed British tactical information were unknowingly intercepted by Axis agents and passed to Nazi German Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel for over six months, which contributed to disastrous British defeats at Gazala and Tobruk in June 1942.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Military Tribunal for the Far East</span> Post–World War II war crimes trials

The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), also known as the Tokyo Trial and the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, was a military trial convened on 29 April 1946 to try leaders of the Empire of Japan for their crimes against peace, conventional war crimes, and crimes against humanity, leading up to and during the Second World War. The IMTFE was modeled after the International Military Tribunal (IMT) at Nuremberg, Germany, which prosecuted the leaders of Nazi Germany for their war crimes, crimes against peace, and crimes against humanity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prince Yasuhiko Asaka</span> Member of the Japanese imperial family and career officer in the Imperial Japanese Army

Prince Yasuhiko Asaka was the founder of a collateral branch of the Japanese Imperial Family and a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during the Japanese invasion of China and the Second World War. He was the son-in-law of Emperor Meiji and uncle by marriage of Emperor Hirohito. As the commander of Japanese forces outside Nanjing in December 1937, Asaka presided over the mass murder of hundreds of thousands of Chinese soldiers and civilians in what came to be known as the Nanjing Massacre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kōichi Kido</span> Japanese statesman (1889–1977)

MarquessKōichi Kido was a Japanese statesman who served as Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan from 1940 to 1945, and was the closest advisor to Emperor Hirohito throughout World War II. He was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment, of which he served 6 years before being released in 1953.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Takahito, Prince Mikasa</span> Japanese prince (1915–2016)

Takahito, Prince Mikasa was a Japanese prince, the youngest of the four sons of Emperor Taishō (Yoshihito) and Empress Teimei (Sadako). He was their last surviving child. His eldest brother was Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito). After serving as a junior cavalry officer in the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II, Takahito embarked upon a post-war career as a scholar and part-time lecturer in Middle Eastern studies and Semitic languages; he was especially interested in Jewish studies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Surrender of Japan</span> End of World War II, 2 September 1945

The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, ending the war. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) was incapable of conducting major operations and an Allied invasion of Japan was imminent. Together with the United Kingdom and China, the United States called for the unconditional surrender of Japan in the Potsdam Declaration on 26 July 1945—the alternative being "prompt and utter destruction". While publicly stating their intent to fight on to the bitter end, Japan's leaders were privately making entreaties to the publicly neutral Soviet Union to mediate peace on terms more favorable to the Japanese. While maintaining a sufficient level of diplomatic engagement with the Japanese to give them the impression they might be willing to mediate, the Soviets were covertly preparing to attack Japanese forces in Manchuria and Korea in fulfillment of promises they had secretly made to the US and the UK at the Tehran and Yalta Conferences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hajime Sugiyama</span> Imperial Japanese field marshal

Hajime Sugiyama was a Japanese field marshal and one of Japan's military leaders for most of the Second World War. As Army Minister in 1937, Sugiyama was a driving force behind the launch of hostilities against China in retaliation for the Marco Polo Bridge Incident. After being named the Army’s Chief of Staff in 1940, he became a leading advocate for expansion into Southeast Asia and preventive war against the United States. Upon the outbreak of hostilities in the Pacific theater of World War II, Sugiyama served as the army’s de facto commander-in-chief until his removal by Prime Minister Hideki Tojo in February 1944. Following Tojo's ouster in July 1944, he once again held the post of Army Minister in Kuniaki Koiso's cabinet until its dissolution in April 1945. Ten days after Japan's surrender on 2 September 1945, he committed suicide.

<i>The Sun</i> (film) 2005 Russian film

The Sun is a 2005 Russian biographical film directed by Alexander Sokurov, depicting Japanese Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) during the final days of World War II. It is the third film in a trilogy by director Aleksandr Sokurov that includes Taurus about the Soviet Union's Vladimir Lenin and Moloch about Nazi Germany's Adolf Hitler. The film was entered in the 55th Berlin International Film Festival. It received generally positive reviews from critics.

Events in the year 1945 in Japan.

The current line of succession to the Chrysanthemum Throne is based on the Imperial Household Law. At present, only direct male-line males are allowed to ascend the throne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iwao Yamazaki</span>

Iwao Yamazaki was a lawyer, politician and cabinet minister in the early Shōwa period of Japan. His brother, Tatsunosuke Yamazaki was also a politician and cabinet minister, and his nephew Heihachiro Yamazaki was later a prominent member of the post-war Liberal-Democratic Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hideki Tojo</span> Prime Minister of Japan from 1941 to 1944, convicted war criminal

Hideki Tojo was a Japanese politician, military leader and convicted war criminal who served as prime minister of Japan and president of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association from 1941 to 1944 during World War II. He assumed several more positions including chief of staff of the Imperial Army before ultimately being removed from power in July 1944. During his years in power, his leadership was marked by extreme state-perpetrated violence in the name of Japanese ultranationalism, much of which he was personally involved in.

<i>The Emperor in August</i> 2015 Japanese film

The Emperor in August is a 2015 Japanese historical drama film directed by Masato Harada. It was released on August 8, 2015.

References

  1. ↑ "EMPEROR (12A)". The Works UK Distribution. British Board of Film Classification. September 10, 2013. Retrieved September 10, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Emperor (2013)". Box Office Mojo . Internet Movie Database. June 13, 2013. Retrieved September 10, 2013.
  3. ↑ IMDb: Emperor - Country Linked 2013-06-05
  4. ↑ Bettinger, Brendan (November 2, 2011). "Peter Webber to Direct WWII Love Story EMPEROR; Filming Begins January 2012". Collider.com. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
  5. ↑ Vlessing, Etan (August 14, 2012). "Toronto 2012: Paul Andrew Williams' 'Song for Marion' to Close 37th Edition". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
  6. ↑ ""Emperor" Japan premiere". Keizo Mori. UPI. July 18, 2013. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  7. ↑ "Fox tackles history in 'Emperor'". Giovanni Fazio. The Japan Times. July 25, 2013. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Emperor". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved April 1, 2023. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  9. ↑ "Emperor Reviews". Metacritic . Fandom, Inc. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.