Fresh
It's all done with care and authentic Japanese locations ... But there's scant drama.
Trevor Johnston, Time Out
Emperor
After the war was won, the battle for peace began.
2012 · 1h 45m · PG-13
Drama, History, War
Directed by
Peter Webber
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Emperor
Overview
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 and cast
- Peter Webber Director
- Matthew Fox as General Bonner Fellers
- Tommy Lee Jones as General Douglas MacArthur
- Eriko Hatsune as Aya Shimada
- Masayoshi Haneda as Takahashi
- Kaori Momoi as Mitsuko Kajima
- Toshiyuki Nishida as General Kajima
- Colin Moy as General Richter
- Masatô Ibu as Koichi Kido
- Isao Natsuyagi as Teizaburo Sekiya
- Takatarô Kataoka as Emperor Hirohito
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
31%
Tomatometer
Rotten
A stodgy movie that mixes dubious history with a cliched, Madame Butterfly romance story, set in the period immediately following Japan's surrender in 1945.
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail
Rotten
Emperor falls prey to the temptations endemic to historical docudrama: the desire to pack a miniseries' worth of events into one feature-length film, with romance tossed in for added appeal.
Peter Howell, Toronto Star
Rotten
Half crinoline romance, half crusty military-history lesson.
Peter Debruge, Variety
Rotten
Offers a labored treatise on the Japanese national character, with endless speeches about honor, devotion, loyalty, and the people's reverence for their emperor as a human deity.
Mike D'Angelo, AV Club
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