Emperor

Name: Emperor
Genre: Drama, History, War
Released: March 8, 2013
Duration: 105 min
Rating: 48
Cast: Colin Moy, Eriko Hatsune, Isao Natsuyagi, Masatô Ibu, Masayoshi Haneda

2013

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 29 Ratings

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6.0	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 29 Ratings

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Emperor

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Movie Details & Credits

Lionsgate | Release Date: March 8, 2013 | PG-13

Starring: Colin Moy, Eriko Hatsune, Isao Natsuyagi, Masatô Ibu, Masayoshi Haneda, Matthew Fox, Shôhei Hino, Takatoro Kataoka, Tommy Lee Jones, Toshiyuki Nishida

Summary: As the Japanese surrender at the end of WWII, Gen. Fellers is tasked with deciding if Emperor Hirohito will be hanged as a war criminal. Influencing his ruling is his quest to find Aya, an exchange student he met years earlier in the U.S.

Director: Peter Webber

Genre(s): Drama, History, War

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 105 min

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Critic Reviews

Mick LaSalle

Mar 7, 2013

In the end, probably the best way to watch Emperor is to pretend that the Supreme Command of Allied Forces in Japan after World War II was Tommy Lee Jones. If you do that, the movie works surprisingly well. Read full review

Owen Gleiberman

Mar 6, 2013

Emperor explores the delicate postwar dance of revenge, justice, and realpolitik, yet its focus on the issue of Hirohito's guilt or innocence (did he order the attack on Pearl Harbor? Or did he, in fact, oppose the Japanese military machine?) Read full review

Joe Williams

Mar 7, 2013

This true-ish story adds a romantic subplot to the prosecution of Japanese war criminals by American general Douglas MacArthur, but neither the love nor the war are completely baked. Read full review

The Playlist Kevin Jagernauth

Mar 5, 2013

The movie is never without forward momentum, it's just too bad when just when it's ready to go to interesting places, we jump back to Bonner and Aya's pedestrian romance. Read full review

Lou Lumenick

Mar 7, 2013

“Let’s show ’em some good old-fashioned American swagger,’’ MacArthur says on his arrival in Tokyo. It’s too bad director Webber and the screenwriters, David Klass and Vera Blasi, didn’t take his advice to heart instead of largely wasting Jones and some very nice period details. Read full review

Peter Debruge

Mar 8, 2013

Emperor’s bloodless presentation fails on a fundamental dramatic level, playing like the fancy version of a junior-high educational filmstrip, down to the false suspense of Alex Heffes’ corny ticking-clock score. Read full review

Mike Scott

Mar 8, 2013

There's really nothing definitive about Emperor. Or memorable, for that matter. Read full review

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User Reviews

Thegodfatherson

Mar 8, 2013

Surprisingly someone like tommy lee jones has compelled with a war film and Peter Webber has made a film so special that anyone will cry at the climax. When I mean anyone I mean everyone.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

hoops2448

Aug 26, 2013

Based around a dark time in both Japanese and American history, Emperor is a subtle and beautiful story of a return to normalcy and the empathy that can come from anyone, even one of your worst enemies.
Emperor follows General Bonner Fellers (Matthew Fox) a man who lived in Japan prior toBased around a dark time in both Japanese and American history, Emperor is a subtle and beautiful story of a return to normalcy and the empathy that can come from anyone, even one of your worst enemies.
Emperor follows General Bonner Fellers (Matthew Fox) a man who lived in Japan prior to the war and is given the decision of whether or not the Emperor of Japan should be tried fro war crimes, a decision he is to make under the close inspection of General Douglas MacArthur (Tommy Lee Jones). Emperor doesn't even attempt to create tension when it comes to Fellers decision as the film isn't really about history but one mans attempts to console himself with his past and move on. The film creates tension by showing through flashbacks the relationship between Fellers and a Japanese woman he met in the states. As Fellers searches for his past love, someone he hasn't seen for a long time, the film shows a moving love story that is infused with some of the beauty of the country that is now in ruins. The film really isn't about the Emperor at all and it certainly isn't about Fellers quest either, its a rather simple story of how Fellers past relationship and his search for historical context regarding his decision helps him find answers to some of the questions that plague any man who has done horrible things and lost things along the way. The film proves to be extremely interesting thanks to the fact it turns both America and Japan into villains from the get go making them both culpable for the atrocities they have committed. The difference is that by setting the film in war torn Japan the film shows everything the war has caused by the Americans, the state of a once prosperous happy country that is one execution away from total collapse. The film is a love letter to Japanese culture and a love story well worth watching as Matthew Fox is a captivating actor and gives a revelatory performance well worth recognition. The film is a story not just about the past but about the future as it shows two countries in flux, Japan awaiting news of their fate and America trying to justify their actions having just committed one of the worst war crimes in history. Trying to find some kind of redemption even though they have made an indelible mark on a country it had already ravaged.… Expand