Emperor
After Emperor Hirohito's World War II surrender, General MacArthur suddenly feel the importance of himself to manage a foreign nation. He challenges his expert General Fellers must provide proof to make decision about the fate of the Japanese Emperor who is admired by many people.
1969, New Zealand
28 March 1949, Nakano, Tokyo, Japan
February1971, Auckland, New Zealand
24 March 1982, Tokyo, Japan
23 June 1967, Kanagawa, Japan
June 20, 2016
Imagine if POTUS was considered by U.S. citizenry to be a living god. Japanese emperors were. Does one then hang a living god as a war criminal? A riveting period portrayal.
October 11, 2013
Emperor will do well enough. But if you want a more nuanced take on the same events, check out Alexander Sokurov's extraordinary The Sun
March 28, 2013
Emperor falls prey to the temptations endemic to historical docudrama: the desire to pack a miniseries' worth of events into one feature-length film, with romance tossed in for added appeal.
October 06, 2013
Hokey monologues about the finger of historical blame are interspersed with perfume-ad flashbacks to idyllic days of love; you half expect Andrew Lloyd Webber to descend from on high to provide a few touching show tunes.
March 14, 2013
Offers a labored treatise on the Japanese national character, with endless speeches about honor, devotion, loyalty, and the people's reverence for their emperor as a human deity.
March 29, 2013
A stodgy movie that mixes dubious history with a clichéd, Madame Butterfly romance story, set in the period immediately following Japan's surrender in 1945.
March 08, 2013
Just a dull procedural, with the bland Matthew Fox driving around in a jeep and asking questions and not having them answered.
March 22, 2013
Half crinoline romance, half crusty military-history lesson.
October 11, 2013
The little-known historical events provide a pointed exploration of a momentous collision of two cultures.
October 04, 2013
The climax, when MacArthur finally meets Hirohito, is fascinating - and validated by the end-credit, picture-led round-up of what happened to the leading characters.
October 01, 2013
It's all done with care and authentic Japanese locations ... But there's scant drama.
October 07, 2013
Fun when Jones is around, dull when he's not, it's all just a little bit of history repeating.
