Throughout the last 65 years countless films have told stories about the two theaters of war during WWII. The setting of the Pacific though seems to go from it’s start at Pearl Harbor to stories of marquee battles like those seen in Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima. Very rarely are their films exploring the aftermath of war on Japan at least from a western perspective. That’s what we have here in Emperor a film starring Matthew Fox, Tommy Lee Jones, Eriko Hatsune, Masayoshi Haneda, Toshiyuki Nishida.
Emperor is set in post World War II Japan shortly after their surrender to allied forces. General Douglas MacArthur, now Supreme Commander of Allied Forces, begins an investigation on the role Emperor Hirohito played in the war. He tasks General Bonner Fellers with leading the investigation. Fellers is an expert on Japanese culture and ways since he lived in Japan before the war broke out between the United States and Japan. Along with his investigation he is also trying to find a woman named Aya with whom he had a relationship before the war.
Most of the performances in this film are pretty engaging. Tommy Lee Jones does well here as General MacArthur even though it’s getting to the point that Jones is always playing the idea of Tommy Lee Jones. One thing Jones does that is very cool is gettiing General MacArthur’s camera pose perfect. His performance comes off as the mythic version you have when you think of MacArthur, which is fine since his character doesn't really drive the film.
Matthew Fox’s General Fellers is the character you follow and Fox brings the right sense of responsibility to the character. He also shows a sadness to him as he continues to search for Aya. Even though this movie could have worked without a love plot it isn’t overbearingly sappy to drive you out of the film. Masayoshi Haneda as Takahashi is a real standout in this film. His performance is the most nuanced as this man who is tasked with being Fellers’ driver and ends up as his partner in the journey to investigate the Emperor. By the end it feels that a film consisting of just those two investigating things in post war Japan would make a great story.
The film also does a decent job of not focusing solely on the Americans and portraying the US as some moral savior. Plus it does a fine job making sure the Japanese characters are well rounded and human, not just the occupied “enemy”. Director Peter Webber does well here with his direction and use of the camera. The screenwriters David Klass and Vera Blasi showed great intelligence by having the investigation play out like a police procedural. This might be not for everyone’s tastes, at times it can feel like an episode of NCIS set in the past. Toward the end it does seem to wrap things up fairly quickly with a nice amount of exposition but its something that adversely effects the film overall. Emperor is a good drama that balances history, and an entertaining story, very well.
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