The Sun

D-

Historical drama

• Written by Yuri Arabov
• Directed by Aleksandr Sokurov

Few movie-going experiences are worse than a really bad film about a fascinating subject, and few subjects are as fascinating as Japan’s 1945 transition from imperial power to occupied country. And what a cast of characters! You’ve got a war criminal who thinks he’s a god (Emperor Hirohito), a strutting peacock of a victorious general (Douglas MacArthur), a nation told to fight to the death of every man, woman, and child, the birth of the nuclear age, a fascinating moral dilemma (in order to keep the peace, the criminal most at fault is let off the hook and allowed to remain emperor), and a successful transition to democracy by a country under US occupation (almost inconceivable now).

Yet with all that going for it, this film by the director of Russian Ark blows it—seriously. It’s dull, cold, and contains very little insight. Although it’s told entirely from the emperor’s point of view (I don’t think there’s a scene without him), it never lets you get close enough to see what makes him tick.

The photography (by director Sokurov, himself) itself works against the film. Judging from the print screened for the press, the images are dark, muddy, and often out-of-focus. (Could this be the fault of the projection? I doubt it. The subtitles were in focus.) The result didn’t add to the mood; it just made the actors and action hard to see, distancing and annoying the audience.

To make matters worse, screenwriter Yuri Arabov left out some pretty important chunks of the story. The first half, sort of a Japanese Downfall, takes place in Hirohito’s underground bunker, as servants tend and worship him while his officers try to convince him that all is lost. One line of dialog implies that the European war is still going on, suggesting that the end is still months away. Then, Hirohito composes a letter to his son explaining the surrender, and a servant comes in to tell him that American soldiers have arrived to take him to see MacArthur.

Nothing about the atom bomb. Nothing about the USSR’s last minute declaration of war (odd for a Russian film). Nothing about Hirohito’s decision—possibly humane, very likely selfish–to do the officially unthinkable and surrender.

The rewards are few and small. The movie has a few moments of subtle visual comedy, and star Issei Ogata does a credible and subtle Charlie Chaplin imitation for American photographers. And his relationship with an old, devoted servant is occasionally touching. But these small virtues aren’t enough for a film that fails to enlighten or to entertain, and succeeds mostly in boring the viewer into a stupor.

By the way, the press release states that The Sun “is in Russian with English subtitles.” Not true. It’s in Japanese (with English subtitles) and English.