I will confess that I went in to Alexander Sokurov's The Sun completely dry, having seen none of the director's previous work, not even the acclaimed single take opus Russian Ark. The experience was a conflicting one as the film moves as a very deliberate pace. Well, deliberate is one word for it, others would simply prefer slow. It's as though Sokurov sat down to watch some Tarkovsky and responded with a hearty "Whoa there, big fella ... you're going too fast.&"
Sokurov's third film focusing on a supreme military leader - early films have covered Hitler and Lenin - The Sun tells the story of Japanese Emperor Hirohito, starting shortly after the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima and finishing with Hirohito's renunciation of his divine status. He approaches Hirohito entirely sympathetically, as a man concerned with the well being of his people who accepts personal mistreatment for their benefit.
The film gives ou snapshots of Hirohito's life behind the scenes. We take an early breakfast with him, sit in on a military meeting just after the Americans have occupied the country, experience his troubling dream of bizarre winged monsters and fish raining fire upon his homeland, and follow him through a series of personally humiliating meetings with General MacArthur where he is forced to capitulate and treat the invading general as an equal.
While many sequences were fascinating - the dream sequence and MacArthur sequences in particular - there were others, primarily in the early going, where the primary concern was simply retaining consciousness or, failing that, not snoring. The extremely slow pace makes the film difficult going at times, a problem not at all helped by the fact that the film is extremely dimly lit which often makes it difficult to make out facial expressions and other details. Many slower film makers compensate for the pace by filling the screen with beautiful images and strong cinematography but Sokurov is strictly pedestrian on that front. And, although it seems a hugely shallow complaint, I was rather disturbed by the fact that Hirohito was played as a major mouth-breather. His lips constantly trembling as they stretched forward to suck in air Hirohito resembled nothing so much as a fish sucking water into its gills and I couldn't help but wonder when the hook was going to come down for him.
My hunch is that The Sun will play purely as a niche picture, best received by history buffs and fans of serious art house fare. It offers little in the way of drama and virtually nothing in the way of plot. It is simply a two hour snapshot of a hugely important historical figure.
Todd, I can't believe you haven't seen "Russian Ark&". Well, don't get me wrong. I have seen it pretty late too but it really is a once in a lifetime cinema experience. "Mother & Son&" and of course "Father & Son&" are also truly poetic. I am really looking forward to see "Sun&" and his upcoming works...
I caught Russian Ark at last years (or was it the year before?) festival. Lovely (if a times a bit dry) film. A beautiful and stunning achievement to do it all in one take with so many players. It's too bad that Solntse wouldn't fit into my TIFF sched.
Oh, I got the underwater bit of the performance, I just found it incredibly irritating. It turned the performance into a one note affair ... it made him look foolish more than anything ...
Some people, like you, find him foolish or buffoonish. Others find him pitiful. The performance - which is not the actor's fault, but what the director wanted - was created thus on purpose. This is a man considered a divine ruler by the Japanese people, but he's completely sheltered and barely socialised. He has no conception of how ordinary people live their lives, he doesn't even know what a doorknob does, and that lends the character a certain amount of pathos.
Issey Miyake is one of the most accomplished actors in Japan, and Sokurov obviously wanted him to play Hirohito as something of a nerd rather than a stoical aristocrat, which lends the story a huge irony. Sokurov's film on Hitler, MOLOCH, did something similar in portraying Hitler as a needy, whiny child surrounded by sycophants.
Issey Miyake is not an actor but a designer. Issey Ogata is the one who is in The Sun and one of the most accomplished actor for his soloist style in his country.
I have no idea of this movie because i have it but is in russian. I have a question to you: can u tell me where i can download an english subtitle, or even an franch one? Please send it on my e-mail:
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. Thanks
these guys were war criminals. the general and the emperor. they made billions of people in Japan as well as in other parts of Asia suffer from the cruelest war. don't have any pity on them.
an artsy film can render them pitiable or even sympthetic, but the hard fact remains staring at us. they were war criminals.
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