Crimes de guerre

Matthew Fox and Tommy Lee Jones play polarising American WW2 army generals to a tee in Emperor, the compellingly true story of the aftermath of the war in Japan, and the concerted US effort to compile enough evidence to convict Japanese Emperor Hirohito of war crimes. Trained on a seldom-acknowledged aspect of mankind's greatest battle, Emperor infuses a grand story with intimate relationships, making for a superb addition to the voluminous library of war on film.

While Tommy Lee Jones relishes in playing every Tommy Lee Jones character ever (stealing all the best lines in the process) as the hard-nosed but cunning General MacArthur, Fox delivers a more grounded and arresting performance as Bonner Fellers, a man torn between his moral obligations and his duty to the army, and to an American public crying out for blood.

Director Peter Webber infuses a romantic subplot with Fellers' Japanese girlfriend Aya (Eriko Hatsune) neatly, filling a role but never interjecting into a story that, quite frankly, is underscored by the power of men post-war. When MacArthur finally comes face-to-face with the Emperor after an excruciating build-up, the scene's emotional force and intense interplay perfectly resonate the best attributes of this vastly underrated drama.

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I had to view "Emperor" twice before rendering a judgment. The first time went by. Not so much in any way, but something lingered. In the meantime, I visited Japan and read the Pulitzer prize-winning book by Herbert Bix: Hirohito and The Making of Modern Japan. The second viewing was thus clearly different. This film is much like a chapter torn out of the entire book. No wonder some viewers find the film "dry", "textbook-like", or with some other unsatisfactory notes. I believe I can tell why. While the book lays an excellent ground on why we should care about this man-god called and believed by most Japanese as "Emperor, Son of The Sun", if we want to understand this part of human history, the film chooses to disregard the background and assume that the viewers are already interested. This well-made film fails at making us care enough, except the ones already do. I am one of the ones who do care. The film delicately tells a story of a great nation forced on its knees. A pain of a 2,000-year-old nation being dominated by a very young superpower with no real culture of its own. A tough choice between sacrificing oneself or the Emperor they claim to be so devoted to with their lives. However, the heart of this film is also quite well-portrayed. It is that a sheer power is always submissive to a great culture. The American leadership chose not to destroy Japan not only because it was strategically wrong, but also because the culture of Japan was and is one of the triumphs of all mankind. Destroying such a human creation is to destroy a portion of oneself. Emperors have power not only to destroy but also to protect, that is.

Just saw Emperor at TIFF tonight. It was an enjoyable, well made, historical film, but a tad dry. Starring Tommy Lee Jones as General Douglas MacArthur and Matthew Fox as MacArthur's subordinate officer General Fellers, it is set against the backdrop of the early occupation of Japan by U.S. forces after World War 2. MacArthur is faced with a dilemma: he has to prosecute thirty Japanese war criminals - the masterminds of the war - but a question of what to do with Emperor Hirohito looms over him. To leave him alone would invite displeasure from American public and politicians, to arrest and try him for war crimes would endanger the occupation and break the tenuous peace. Jones' MacArthur assigns the task to Matthew Fox's character as he is an expert on Japan - now Fox's character has only 10 days to investigate the Emperor's involvement and come to a decision. In the meantime, the viewers also see flashbacks from Fellers' past, and there is a subplot involving Feller looking for his lost lover.

Tommy Lee Jones is plainly having lots of fun as the blustering larger- than-life Douglas MacArthur, and Matthew Fox delivers a good performance with moments of extreme intensity. Masayoshi Haneda plays a translator and aide and manages to pull off a role that has dignity despite the harrowed and dishevelled appearance of the character. Eriko Hatsune - the love interest of the film - has a fragile beauty but is too reserved throughout the movie to deliver much of an emotional impact. The film was shot in New Zealand and Japan (in fact it's the first movie to film inside the Japanese Imperial Palace) and it's gorgeous - the ruins of bombed out Tokyo are especially impressive, and of course the Imperial Palace as a backdrop is fascinating.

The quibble I had with the movie is that it tries to create a sense of urgency and suspense, but since it's based on historical events it largely fails. Anyone who has taken history in high school should know how it turned out. With the exception of a couple of scenes, there also isn't much of an emotionally charged drama going on either. Although I enjoyed it, I cannot deny that it moved at a more sedate pace and lacked great urgency and suspense.

I have to admit I liked this movie a lot. The plot is straightforward: General Bonner Fellers (Matthew Fox) is hired by General Douglas MacArthur (Tommy Lee Jones) to investigate the role of Emperor Hirohito (Takataro Kataoka) during World War II, to investigate whether the Emperor should be tried as a war criminal. However the film is about a lot more than just conduct during war; it is a story of cultural adaptation, as Fellers comes to know something about Japanese attitudes towards the conflict, and how they differ significantly from those embraced by the Americans. Eventually the two sides come to an understanding - so much so that Hirohito actually deigns to have a meeting with MacArthur, something hitherto considered unthinkable in Japanese aristocratic culture. Jones' MacArthur is just wonderful - although physically very different from the actual person, the actor captures the mannerisms, the aggressiveness, and the softness lurking beneath an apparently gruff personality.

I thought I might be the only one who found this film interesting since I spent 7 years in Japan and happened to be there when Emperor Hirohito died. At that time, there was a renewed discussion of how much he was responsible for beginning World War II. In the end, it seemed he was more or less strong-armed into the war by right wing politicians. True, he could be blamed for being weak-willed, but he did not have the mental constitution to be an emperor in the first place. If he could have chosen, he would have been a marine biologist, as marine biology was his hobby and passion. There was no more confusing and cathartic time in Japanese history than when MacArthur and the American military came in to occupy Japan. The entire society had to re-evaluate itself on all levels. How could they, the greatest people in the world, be conquered by such an uncultured civilization? This question persists until the present day.

It was not clear at the beginning of this film whether it was a true story or a story based around true events. If the fact that it was a true story had been made clearer, it would have been more compelling. Nonetheless, it did capture most of the turbulent elements of that time. The love affair, that parallels this story is a good one and one that exposes the prejudice that existed against any Japanese woman who dared marry outside her culture. Eriko Hatsune was perfect in the role of an intelligent woman caught between tradition and emotion. Unfortunately, Matthew Foxx (General Bonner Fellers) acted as if he had been hit by a tranquilizer dart. Tommy Lee Jones overacted the role of MacArthur and was equally unconvincing.

Be warned. This is not an action movie,though a few action scenes exist. This is mainly a movie based on philosophic discussions, psychology, and cultural misunderstandings. Still, it offers a good view of an important time in world history.