Emperor
Peter Webber
The story: World War II is over and Japan has surrendered. General Douglas MacArthur (Tommy Lee Jones) arrives in Tokyo for the occupation of the country and tasks Brigadier General Bonner Fellers (Matthew Fox) with a key mission – determine the extent of Emperor Hirohito’s (Takataro Kataoka) guilt in the Japanese war effort.

There is a famous black-and- white photograph depicting General Douglas MacArthur and Emperor Hirohito standing next to each other.
MacArthur is resting his hands on the back of his hips, while Hirohito’s hands hang formally by his side. There is an awkwardly large gap between the two, a gulf reflecting the difference in the two cultures and the insurmountable distance between the victor and the vanquished. Neither man is smiling.
The movie Emperor is essentially the story of what leads up to that single iconic moment.
Even so, director Peter Webber (Girl With A Pearl Earring, 2003) opts for a more subtle set-up. For much of the movie, Hirohito is investigated and discussed and judged, but the man himself is not shown. It is as though the moviegoer is watching a version of the surrealist play Waiting For Godot (1953), in which the protagonist never appears.
Instead, it is left to Matthew Fox to carry the movie. In television dramas such as Party Of Five (1994-2000) and Lost (2004-2010), he plays bruised characters who are decent at the core.
Fox once again channels that quality of inherent decency into the character of Fellers, who has to maintain a delicate balance in his investigation.
On the one hand, Japan is teetering on collapse and a denunciation of the god-like emperor could tip the country over into outright revolt. On the other hand, there is demand for justice to be served in the aftermath of a brutal war.
Complicating matters is Fellers’ personal affection for Japan and his love for a Japanese woman, Aya (Eriko Hatsune). The latter could have all too easily been a tired cliche but it does provide an opportunity for Fellers to delve deeper into the Japanese psyche through his contact with Aya’s military official uncle.
Lightening the mood a little in the sometimes sombre proceedings is Tommy Lee Jones as he swaggers about as MacArthur, a man as keenly aware of the power of the media image as he was of the power of the gun.
(ST)