THE SUN
A film by Alexander
Sokurov
Running
Time: 110 minutes
Format: NTSC
Languages: Japanese & English
THE SUN by acclaimed Russian filmmaker Alexander
Sokurov is the third in a trilogy on pivotal
historic figures that have held "ultimate power".
Following Moloch (on Hitler) and Taurus (on
Lenin), this bold new work takes as its subject
Emperor Hirohito (Issey Ogata), in the summer of
1945 during the Allied occupation of Japan.
On the 15th of August, 1945 millions of Japanese
heard the voice of their Emperor for the first
time when he made an appeal to his army and his
people to cease all fighting. He publicly
renounced his divine lineage as the 124th
descendant of the 'Goddess of Sun Amaterasu'
thereby saving the lives of millions of Japanese
who were prepared to die for their divine
Emperor. The film reproduces the Emperor's
meetings with the American Commander-in-chief,
General Douglas MacArthur (Robert Dawson). In his
memoirs, MacArthur wrote that the Emperor was
prepared to accept responsibility for the actions
of his government and his army * although he was
well aware that the consequences for him would be
trial and death.
Alexander Sokurov's unique style has been
credited to visual splendour, hermetic intensity
and a sense of suspended time found within his
films. Sokurov has over 30 features,
documentaries and shorts to his credit, including
Russian Ark (2002). Hailed as a masterpiece, and
set in The Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the film
is a lush meditation on history, art and Russia,
with all of the film's 97 minutes shot in one
single, unyielding take.
