Solntse (2005)

Director:

Aleksandr Sokurov

Writers:

Yuri Arabov (writer)
Jeremy Noble (writer)

Release Date:

8 April 2005 (Estonia)

Genre:

Drama | History

Plot:

Third part in Aleksandr Sokurov's tetrology, following "Moloch" and "Taurus", focuses on Japanese Emperor Hirohito and Japan's defeat in World War II when he is finally confronted by Gen. Douglas MacArthur who offers him to accept a diplomatic defeat for survival.

Plot Keywords:

Servant | Defeat | Marriage | One Word Title | Japan

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Issei Ogata	...	Shouwa-Tennou Hirohito
Robert Dawson	...	General Douglas MacArthur (as Robert Dawson)
Kaori Momoi	...	Empress Kojun
Shirô Sano	...	The chamberlain
Shinmei Tsuji	...	Old servant
Taijiro Tamura	...	Scientist
Georgi Pitskhelauri	...	McArthur's warrant officer
Hiroya Morita	...	Suzuki, Prime Minister
Toshiaki Nishizawa	...	Yonai, Minister of the Navy
Naomasa Musaka	...	Anami, Minister of the War
Yusuke Tozawa	...	Kido
Kojiro Kusanagi	...	Togo, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Tetsuro Tsuno	...	General Umezu
Rokuro Abe	...	General Toyoda
Jun Haichi	...	Abe, Minister of the Interior

Also Known As:

Солнце (Russia)
Sole, Il (Italy)
Soleil, Le (France)
The Sun (International: English title)

Runtime:

115 min | Japan:110 min | Canada:110 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | Hong Kong:110 min

Country:

France | Italy | Switzerland | Russia

Language:

Japanese | English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Netherlands:MG6 | Brazil:Livre | Italy:T | France:U | UK:PG

Company:

Nikola Film

Trivia:

Sokurov kept the name of the actor playing the Emperor secret, since it is taboo in Japan to play an Emperor on film. Sokurov was afraid for the safety of the actor, after Nagisa Oshima told him there have been two attempts on his life after he criticized Imperial Japan during WWII.

Quotes:

Shouwa-Tennou Hirohito: Our chances of victory in the war with the west were 50 out of 100. Germany's chances in this war were 100 out of 100.
General Douglas MacArthur: What are you talking about?
Shouwa-Tennou Hirohito: I'm talking about the alliance with Germany.
General Douglas MacArthur: Well, that is all in the past. There is only one unresolved issue left. That is the issue of your fate.

Movie Connections:

Follows Telets (2001)

Soundtrack:

from DIE GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG

A hard viewing but psychologically interesting for some

Another part of Sokurov's "totalitarian" sequence, this is devoted to Japanese WW II-time Emperor Hirohito and his farewell to the old good times of imperial Japan and painful entry into new after-war realities of defeated Japan rising to "democracy" and subject to America's "civilizing".

Compared to the dictators previously depicted by Sokurov (Hitler and Lenin), Hirohito appears the least dictatorial: he sometimes is felt like a "hostage" of the desire to defend the country's own pass of development against the "corroding" influx of Western "plebeian" culture, the desire which led Japan into the fascist "axis" and determined its defeat when the old traditions of relying on the soldiers' spirit and honour and not technical power, and despising non-Japanese as barbarians did not justify themselves.

The film is a hard viewing even for art-house fans because of obscure (probably psychologically justified) coloring and virtually no exterior action. All the action is psychological depicting the way the Emperor comes to reality and to realizing (and publicly declaring) that he is a man, not God, and taking the disgrace of defeat on himself to save his country.

Overall, 7/10.