Solntse

Treated as a meditation on power and its loss, on the desperate attempt to hold back the inevitable, etc., but such readings miss the point: the cost of defeat is massive suffering, but ultimately he is well and truly sick of the pretence of his life. Rigid power is a pain in the ass, and what the emperor is desperate for is a chance at rebirth and a new lightness. Defeat offers that chance and the promise of relief...much as it did for Japan itself. He tries but can barely suppress his delight.

A fascinating character study, The Sun slowly reveals more and more of Hirohito's character. The movement of the film is from mysterious god to known man, leaving an unsettled if not also joyous future ahead for the emperor. Both poetry and the natural world play an important role in the awakening of Hirohito's humanity, underlining the redemptive power of art as well as the connections to the world that come through scientific study. Sokurov's camera is also appropriately disorienting.

"Sokurov reveals a man trying desperately, though honorably, to avoid an inevitable turn of the tide." - Keith Uhlich

A real fucked up movie, in terms of its production rather than psychology. The narrative thread seems slapped onto the film itself, I'm never sure how to react to the film because I don't know how it wants me to react. There's plenty of technical oddities in this -- inappropriate fade-cuts, shonky CGI war sequence, and the clear digital (and inconsistent) cinematography makes this look like a British sit-com. Along with a too immediate ending, this is a badly misguided film.

A great way to depict the psychology of fascism: to abstain from grandiose forms and epic narrations which are adored by fascist understanding of aesthetics and tell a minor story. Sokurov focuses on Hirohito as an ordinary man who has interests like marine biology, Hollywood stars and poetry, and even he seems the victim of an invisible hand of fascism. I'll never forget his shivering lips and that he can speak 6 languages :) great movie

Less distracting and visually jumbled than Faust, but possibly even duller. The only reason to watch a Sokurov film is for the visuals, and the drab, washed-out digital grayness here doesn't bring anything on that front (unless you happen to love inexplicably, cheap looking CGI dream sequences thrown in too). Beyond that, it really just feels like a filmed play, and an uninteresting one at that. I think i might be starting to dislike Sokurov almost as much as Tarr.

Confined to his dingy bunker, Hirohito goes about his daily activities with a childlike obliviousness to the overground situation, hopelessly delaying the inevitable. Sokurov envisions Hirohito as kind of Edwardian gentleman, and Ogata gives a controlled and mannered performance with odd carp like mouth movements. There is a slightly stilted atmosphere that seems deliberately designed to create a heightened mood. It isn't always successful, but at its best it conjures a spell that's all its own