The Sun, a documentary about WW2 Emperor Hirohito

Emperor Hirohito is the subject of a new Russian film that's showing in New York City right now, called The Sun. I have not seen it, nor do I know much about it, but it sounds it could be interesting for those who have a fascination with Japan before, during, and after WW2.

By the way, the best book that explains how Japan changed after WW2 is Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II by John Dower. Read it now if you haven't already.

My favorite movie about this era is a documentary by famed filmmaker Kazuo Hara called Emperor's Naked Army Marches On — it chronicles the journey of one WW2 vet whose mission is to get soldiers to atone for crimes committed during the war, many years later.

Related stories:
Wings of Defeat: a documentary about kamikaze pilots
New uncensored HBO documentary on Hiroshima

Comments

[DickMcVengeance]

I went and saw the film, and I must say -- it's absolutely terrible. I'll be tackling it more in-depth over on Japanator, but in short: they portrayed Hirohito as someone who was literally out of touch with the world. Often walking around slackjawed and bemused by the most simple of things, with a speech pattern that puzzled me beyond belief.

Normally, I would be all over this movie, and I had high hopes after seeing the director's other famous piece, Russian Ark, but oh my lord I nearly fell asleep during this picture. And that's something that never happens to me.

[A Facebook User]

I agree, I found it really a really turgid and strange representation of the Emperor. BTW, the movie is not new, I saw it 4 years ago.