The Sun

Russian director Aleksandr Sokurov offers an impressionistic portrait of Japanese Emperor Hirohito on the eve of Japan's defeat in World War II in this unusual drama. As played by Issei Ogata, the ruler is an almost childlike figure, trapped not only in his spartan compound but also by his identity as a living deity subject to deferential rituals. Hirohito exhibits a distracted demeanor and has moments of dazed confusion that no one on his staff dares to comment upon, yet he seems more aware of the contradictions of his position than any of his servants or officials. The third film in Sokurov's continuing “Men in Power” series (his first two, Moloch and Taurus, focused on Hitler and Lenin, respectively), The Sun is not a conventional biographical portrait, but rather a reflection on the inner life of a man considered a god by his people and treated as such—at least until the Americans, led by General Douglas MacArthur (Robert Dawson), arrive to begin plans for their occupation and the two leaders meet to lay the groundwork for the transition of power. The style throughout is dreamy and dislocating, with the hazy cinematography nicely capturing an isolated world held together by denial and faith that is ultimately overtaken by the smoking ruins of war. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)