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Sun, The

EMAILPRINTLorber HT Digital

Sun, The reviews
84
6.3 User Score:

Movie Info

Genre(s): Drama

Written by: Yuri Arabov
Jeremy Noble

Directed by: Aleksandr Sokurov

Release Date:
Theatrical: November 20, 2009

Running Time: 115 minutes, Color

Origin: Russia | Italy | Switzerland | France

Language(s): Japanese | English

Summary

RATING: Not Rated

Starring Issei Ogata, Robert Dawson, Kaori Momoi, Shirô Sano, and Shinmei Tsuji

In the summer of 1945, with Tokyo under siege by American forces, Japanese Emperor Hirohito remains in seclusion from the world in an underground bunker. Held by his people as a deity, the incarnation of the Sun God, Hirohito is sheltered from the devastation that surrounds him as he is waited on hand and foot by his servants. After the razing of Tokyo and bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Hirohito finally meets with General MacArthur. And, in August, millions of Japanese citizens are stunned to hear the voice of their Emperor for the first time as he commands his people to cease all fighting. The address saves the lives of countless Japanese and Allied forces alike, but the victorious powers insist that Emperor Hirohito appear before a military tribunal for war crimes. Sokurov’s fascinating film chronicles the events leading up to Hirohito’s monumental speech, the historic renunciation of his divine status and his meetings with General MacArthur, who advises his own President not to declare the Japanese leader a war criminal. Featuring a power-house central performance by Issey Ogata, Sokurov creates an intimate human portrait of the infamous Emperor Hirohito as he faces the unraveling of his own power, and the tragedy that besets his country. (Lorber HT Digital)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Time Out New York Keith Uhlich

Sokurov, who also acted as director of photography, films the character and his surroundings with the eye of a newly arrived visitor to another world.

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100

The Onion (A.V. Club) Sam Adams

The result is not to make the emperor sympathetic so much as it is to tug at the mask of despotic glory. In the end, he is only a man.

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100

Chicago Reader Fred Camper

This 2005 masterpiece by Russian filmmaker Alexander Sokurov transforms the story of Emperor Hirohito at the close of World War II into a melancholy meditation on power and its loss.

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100

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

The Sun sheds only so much literal light on its chosen subject; it's a film of shadows and silence, the calm before and after the storm. But everything you see and hear carries weight and an eerie poetic undercurrent.

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90

Village Voice J. Hoberman

Though he successfully humanizes Hirohito, who is shown happily shedding his divinity, Sokurov doesn't entirely exonerate him. He contrives a shock ending that, as measured as everything else in this engrossing, supremely assured movie, acknowledges one last blood sacrifice on the emperor's altar.

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90

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

The movie is best understood not in banal docudrama terms but as an impressionistic portrait of a man who, stripped of power, is revealed as grotesquely human.

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80

The Hollywood Reporter Richard James Havis

This precision-controlled film once again highlights Alexander Sokurov's mastery of the medium. The third entry in his Men in Power series employs refined performances, a controlled script, excellent sound and fluid camerawork.

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75

New York Post V.A. Musetto

Fives us behind-the-scene looks at Hirohito, the man and the ruler. The diminutive leader comes off sympathetically, as a man concerned with the welfare of his people.

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70

Los Angeles Times Gary Goldstein

The setting, largely confined to the laboratory building and underground bunker of the otherwise bombed-out Imperial Palace, makes for somewhat claustrophobic viewing but effectively enhances the hermetically sealed feeling of Hirohito's royal life.

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70

Variety Leslie Felperin

As usual, Sokurov's unhurried pacing will test the patience of more fidgety viewers, although the script is more accessible than some of his recent efforts.

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30

Film Threat Michael Ferraro

Reflecting on Sokurov’s other recent work – like “Russian Arc” for example – The Sun is a giant step down. It’s an outrageously long-winded drama that’s awfully directed with the skill of a high school play.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 6.3 (out of 10) based on 3 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

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