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on May 15, 2015
Tommy Lee Jones is fun, and the movie is worth watching.
The problem of what to do with the emperor has to be explained through dialog, and great gnashing of teeth, and an attempted comparison of Japanese imperialism with that of Britain and the US. It did leave you with the uncertainty over the role of the Emperor Hirohito in waging war. Was he really in charge, or was he a virtual captive of the "militarists"?
At the end they have an inaccurate graphic that says General Eisenhower demoted General Fellers afterward. This was not the case. During the Civil War and WWI and WWII US officers were promoted quickly up to temporarily higher ranks as the military expanded, and then they reverted back to their regular, lower rank after the war as the military was reduced in size. And so General Fellers went back to a regular rank of colonel. As, for example, General Custer was promoted up to major general during the Civil War, and was reduced back to captain after the war, and eventually died 11 years later at the rank of lieutenant colonel.
The problem of what to do with the emperor has to be explained through dialog, and great gnashing of teeth, and an attempted comparison of Japanese imperialism with that of Britain and the US. It did leave you with the uncertainty over the role of the Emperor Hirohito in waging war. Was he really in charge, or was he a virtual captive of the "militarists"?
At the end they have an inaccurate graphic that says General Eisenhower demoted General Fellers afterward. This was not the case. During the Civil War and WWI and WWII US officers were promoted quickly up to temporarily higher ranks as the military expanded, and then they reverted back to their regular, lower rank after the war as the military was reduced in size. And so General Fellers went back to a regular rank of colonel. As, for example, General Custer was promoted up to major general during the Civil War, and was reduced back to captain after the war, and eventually died 11 years later at the rank of lieutenant colonel.
on June 13, 2015
I am a history buff and therefore I found this movie (it is a true story but not all about MacArthur---its more about a member of his staff) to be full of great details. The movie opens with the Enola Gay taking off to drop the first Atom Bomb on Japan. Next it moves to the palace revolt which was driven by those in the Japanese government who still wanted to continue the war even with the prospect that the United States would continue dropping Atomic bombs. That thought brought the Emperor who had the last say to call for the surrender. Tommy Lee Jones plays Gen MacArthur very well as you would expect. The other main character is Gen Bonner Fellers (played by Matthew Fox) who was a career US Army officer who had a love affair in Japan before World War II with a beautiful Japanese lady. Besides tracking down the Japanese responsible for the attack on Pearl Harbor and war criminals for prosecution, Fellers privately looks for the girl he loved as a sidebar to the history track. I don't know if that was factual but it adds a bit of romance to the history narrative. As to the destruction of Japan, the movie has some very good CG imposed in which miles and miles of bombed rubble of Tokyo is shown as the backdrop in many scenes. My view is that adds a bit much sympathy to the film for the Japanese people who not only attacked Pearl Harbor killing several thousand US military and Hawaiian civilians, the Japanese were most brutal to every people that they attacked. For example they killed millions of Chinese -- in Nanking alone there were 350,000 people killed by the Japanese army. The movie does not leave the impression that one should feel sorry for the Japanese but does not cover in detail the war crimes which they committed.
on September 20, 2015
Most historical fiction is imperfect, and this movie is no exception. I am inclined to agree with the brief summary on Wikipedia of its critical reception: a good movie that was marred by a silly love story subplot that did not in any way advance the main thesis. As to its historical accuracy, I am neither a historian nor an expert of the period, but I believe it is safe to say that not every fact of the story should be believed literally. As with all historical fiction, it should serve to make you reassess prior beliefs after some research using more credible sources. Emperor does not pretend to placate Emperor Hirohito's role in the war in China nor in his role in consenting to the attack on Pearl Harbor. On the contrary, it's portrayal of Emperor Hirohito (mostly indirectly) shows him to be an imperfect human in deeply challenging and imperfect circumstances, pressured by militarists and forced to obey codes of honor that are not readily understood by foreigners. While one may disagree with the lectures on the guilt of the European and American colonialists (and I strongly disagreed with basic facts of the lecture), nobody can doubt that all the major parties of the war in the Pacific, including the Americans, British, Chinese, and Japanese, had very dirty hands before, during, and after the war.
on May 10, 2017
Having lived in Japan I have a fascination for learning the bits and pieces of it's history. This movie fills in a piece I never knew about regarding whether the Americans were going to put Emperor Hirohito on trial for war crimes. For another piece of the puzzle see Tokyo Trial on Netflix
on March 9, 2015
Excellent film. Fox and Jones do a commendable job of acting complex characters who were responsible for the rebuilding of Japan.
While the romance of Fellers (Fox) in the story was likely not factual since he had a wife and daughter back in the US, it propelled the film to a personal level and took the edge off the harshness of the scenes in Japan after the war. Fellers was the real hero in this situation and Emperor Hirohito, in 1971, actually awarded Fellers with one of Japan's highest honors, the Second Order of the Sacred Treasure. McArthur, as pompous as he was in real life (some may dispute this, but he did have a streak of it which many 5-star generals did and do have), he was able to engineer a fantastic rebuilding of Japan. I am not sure if he was revengeful, but Jones was great in his role as McArthur and pulled off the enigmatic role with aplomb.
While inaccuracies existed, the film needed these to pull the story together and make it much more appealing. Minor mistakes never took one away from the real story line... getting the investigation of the Emperor to produce either guilt or innocence in prosecuting the war. All other stories involved in this excellent film were superfluous.
While McArthur was quite an egoist, this film shows how he was able to do the right thing and actually be commanding and warm enough at the proper time to almost endear himself to the Emperor. We don't know if their relationship continued and grew, but we do know that Japan was rebuilt to become a peaceful country which is today a very strong economic entity. It is not known what would have occurred if McArthur had botched the job or if someone else had been in-charge, but Japan was rebuilt and blossomed in spite of the rubble as a result of the war.
I fully recommend this film as a sleeper and one definitely worth your time. It is quite well produced in almost every aspect and is a peek through the window as to what happened after Japan surrendered.
While the romance of Fellers (Fox) in the story was likely not factual since he had a wife and daughter back in the US, it propelled the film to a personal level and took the edge off the harshness of the scenes in Japan after the war. Fellers was the real hero in this situation and Emperor Hirohito, in 1971, actually awarded Fellers with one of Japan's highest honors, the Second Order of the Sacred Treasure. McArthur, as pompous as he was in real life (some may dispute this, but he did have a streak of it which many 5-star generals did and do have), he was able to engineer a fantastic rebuilding of Japan. I am not sure if he was revengeful, but Jones was great in his role as McArthur and pulled off the enigmatic role with aplomb.
While inaccuracies existed, the film needed these to pull the story together and make it much more appealing. Minor mistakes never took one away from the real story line... getting the investigation of the Emperor to produce either guilt or innocence in prosecuting the war. All other stories involved in this excellent film were superfluous.
While McArthur was quite an egoist, this film shows how he was able to do the right thing and actually be commanding and warm enough at the proper time to almost endear himself to the Emperor. We don't know if their relationship continued and grew, but we do know that Japan was rebuilt to become a peaceful country which is today a very strong economic entity. It is not known what would have occurred if McArthur had botched the job or if someone else had been in-charge, but Japan was rebuilt and blossomed in spite of the rubble as a result of the war.
I fully recommend this film as a sleeper and one definitely worth your time. It is quite well produced in almost every aspect and is a peek through the window as to what happened after Japan surrendered.
on April 2, 2016
A well-done and entertaining film and though based on actual events, there is an element of historical fiction involved. I believe the film depicts most of the historical events relatively accurately, though embellishes here and there, such as the romantic component. If one is interested in WWII history, especially the Pacific war and/or Japanese history, this will be an enjoyable and worthwhile film.
The depiction of the utter devastation and social conditions upon the American landing/arrival in Japan was profound.
The depiction of the utter devastation and social conditions upon the American landing/arrival in Japan was profound.
on January 18, 2017
You want this movie. Trust me. Wow. Politics, Love, War (not really violent), incredible true-ish story. Not Hollywood junk and mind-rot.
on January 3, 2016
This telescopes and simplifies history somewhat, but it's worth watching for the acting and the story, and for a "pocket sized" amount of information about the post-war situation in Japan. The Japanese characters were refreshingly sympathetic, and Tommy Lee Jones? - well, I'll never be able to think of McArthur againt without visualizing Tommy Lee Jones. Worth seeing.
the leader of Japan that was looked to as a God and another who has aspirations of becoming the leader of the greatest country i
on March 4, 2017
There is little to really say about this film. Two men, the leader of Japan that was looked to as a God and another who has aspirations of becoming the leader of the greatest country in the world work with two go-betweens to set down the rules that they want all to follow when they meet to discuss the surrender and possible rebuilding of Japan. Two monster egos collide. This film follows true events of true people. If you study history this film is almost a text book. Great film Great Actors,
