In order for World War II to end, Emperor Hirohito had to take two of the most challenging steps of his life: to sign the capitulation of Japan and revoke the status of the sovereign´s divinity. In this meditative film, viewers are given the first chance to glimpse the emperor´s private world.
Celebrated long shots, a well thoughtout inner structure, a slow pace of depiction, long periods of silence – these constants in Sokurov’s direction are here reinforced in this evocation of the spiritual disposition of Japanese Emperor Hirohito at the end of World War II, a few days before signing the capitulation, and during the act itself. In the fictitious first half of the film, such is implied through the emperor’s conduct towards various figures who go to visit him in his bunker, but the focal point of the testimony is in the weave of the subtle details of his facial expressions and gestures which involuntarily bear witness to his extreme anxiety. In the second part of the film, we see his first encounter with American soldiers, in particular, General Douglas McArthur, whose task is to force the emperor to sign the capitulation. In Sokurov’s hands, their negotiation is not only a stirring psychological game, but also a tribute to two commanding figures and a sublime reflection on their irreconcilable cultural differences.
110 min / Color, 35 mm
Director Alexander Sokurov
/ Screenplay Jurij Arabov/Yury Arabov
/ Dir. of Photography Alexander Sokurov
/ Music Andrej Sigle/Andrey Sigle
/ Editor Sergej Ivanov/Sergey Ivanov
/ Producer Igor Kalenov, Andrej Sigle/Andrey Sigle, Marco Müller
/ Production Nikola Film, Proline Film, Downtown Pictures, MACT Productions, Riforma Film
/ Cast Issey Ogata, Robert Dawson, Kaori Momoi, Shiro Sano, Shinmei Tsuji, Taijiro Tamura
/ Contact The Works Film Group, Nikola Film, Mact Productions
Alexander Sokurov (b. 1951, Podorvikha), director and cameraman, studied history and then documentary filmmaking at VGIK. To date he has filmed 26 documentaries; The Sun is his 15th feature. His meditative works, weighing up key moments in humanity and modern history, are typically cultural events, screened and awarded at important international festivals. Several of his films have also been screened in Karlovy Vary, most recently Russian Ark in 2002. The Sun is the penultimate film in Sokurov’s planned tetralogy about power. He began it with Moloch (1999), a study of Hitler at a time the Führer sensed his own downfall, then followed Taurus (2001), in which he depicted Lenin’s futile battle with his increasingly failing spirit. Of his image of Hirohito in The Sun, he adds: “The emperor is a symbol of the possibility of finding a positive solution to any situation. He is a symbol of life, whereas Hitler and Lenin, unyielding in their ambitions, will always be associated with death, with senseless mass killings”.
The Works Film Group
5th Floor, Fairgate House, 78 New Oxford Street, WC1A 1HB, London
United Kingdom
Phone: +44 207 612 1080
Fax: +44 207 612 1081
E-mail: [email protected]
Nikola Film
Krukov kanal 12, 190068, St. Petersburg
Russia
Phone: +7 812 714 5717
Fax: +7 812 714 0126
E-mail: [email protected]
Mact Productions
27, rue de Fleurus, 75006, Paris
France
Phone: +33 1 454 910 10
Fax: +33 1 454 930 60
E-mail: [email protected]
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