Sunday, November 21, 2010
ISOLATION
Today's film was Aleksandr Sokurov's
It is the last days of World War II and Emperor Hirohito is having dinner in his bunker. Isolated from the total world except for his two attendants and occasional meetings with the military, he is oblivious to the details of the American invasion.
His military panel, so intimidated by his divinity as the Sun God, presents outrageously optimistic reports except for the Navy guy who is not having any. Through this and other clues, the boss gets the picture.
The rest of the film explores his final thoughts before and including meeting with another god, Douglas MacArthur the Supreme Commander of Allied Forces.
We see them meet. Here is the actual moment. In the same room that we see in the film!
Sokurov paints a convincing picture of the man behind the god mask. He is not much into the role either. Eventually, as part of the deal, and with considerable personal relief he will renounce the divinity.
The personal scenes are almost upbeat. His relief is palpable.
On his way to MacArthur's headquarters, he and we see the devastation that the war has wrought. Destruction. Refugees. Barbarity.
It turns out the Emperor speaks English. The talk between he and the Supreme sort of miss each other on different levels but hit on the important. There is no doubt about what the new boss wants the old one to do.
The two actors in these roles, Issei Ogata and ex-pat American actor, Robert Dawson are superb. Ogata is a stage actor and I think this makes considerable difference in his portrayal of the inner man. Big gestures and affect.
Also, the conversations of the American troops surrounding the Japanese is audible and, naturally, in English so it is especially enjoyable to see the two worlds collide. A session with photographers is hilarious.
It is like a meeting between two members of royalty who drop the masks but, at the same time, talk in parables.
The sound track. Throughtout the film there is a subtle but omnipresent background of sounds. Booms, artillery? Planes. Inside sounds of beep beep telegraph. Hums. Footsteps. The feeling that there is a hive of activity around the Emperor but neither he or we will get to see or touch any of it.
I lived through all this. It is very personal to watch, somehow. My Dad's ship docked in Tokyo harbor and he went on shore. He lived in the War for years. And he never, ever forgave the Japanese. He would not even buy a car with Japanese parts. Knowingly. This film is the other side of the story although there is no gloss on the evils of the Japanese war effort or their objectives. We are left to believe or not Hirohito's claim that it was carried out at other's initiative and once started, he had no choice but to fight on.
I have seen several of Sokurov's films and really liked them. I will shortly do a fest of them with repeats on two.
I will give this a 5 out of Netflix5. I will want to see it again too.
Labels: films
