Solntse (2005)

Note Générale:

7,4/10   

Réalisateur:

Aleksandr Sokurov

Scénaristes:

Yuri Arabov (writer)
Jeremy Noble (writer)

Date de sortie:

8 avril 2005 (Estonia)

Genre:

Drame | Histoire

Intrigue:

Third part in Aleksandr Sokurov's tetrology, following "Moloch" and "Taurus", focuses on Japanese Emperor Hirohito and Japan's defeat in World War II when he is finally confronted by Gen. Douglas MacArthur who offers him to accept a diplomatic defeat for survival.

Plot Keywords:

Emperor | Defeat | Japanese | Douglas Macarthur | Japan

Récompenses:

1 win & 2 nominations

Avis des utilisateurs:

A God with stomach ulcers

Ensemble

Issei Ogata	...	Shouwa-Tennou Hirohito
Robert Dawson	...	General Douglas MacArthur (as Robert Dawson)
Kaori Momoi	...	Empress Kojun
Shirô Sano	...	The chamberlain
Shinmei Tsuji	...	Old servant
Taijiro Tamura	...	Scientist
Georgi Pitskhelauri	...	McArthur's warrant officer
Hiroya Morita	...	Suzuki, Prime Minister
Toshiaki Nishizawa	...	Yonai, Minister of the Navy
Naomasa Musaka	...	Anami, Minister of the War
Yusuke Tozawa	...	Kido
Kôjirô Kusanagi	...	Togo, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Tetsuro Tsuno	...	General Umezu
Rokuro Abe	...	General Toyoda
Jun Haichi	...	Abe, Minister of the Interior

Autre(s) titre(s):

Солнце (Russia)
Il sole (Italy)
Le soleil (France)
The Sun (International: English title)

Durée:

115 min | Japan:110 min | Hong Kong:110 min | Canada:110 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Pays:

Russia | Italy | Switzerland | France

Langue:

Japonais | Anglais

Couleur:

Couleur

Son:

Dolby Digital

Classification:

Italy:T | France:U | Netherlands:MG6 | Brazil:Livre | Argentina:Atp | UK:PG

Société:

Nikola Film

Anecdotes:

Aleksandr Sokurov kept the name of the actor playing the Emperor secret, since it is taboo in Japan to play an Emperor on film. Sokurov was afraid for the safety of the actor, after Nagisa Ôshima told him there have been two attempts on his life after he criticized Imperial Japan during WWII.

Guillemet:

Shouwa-Tennou Hirohito: Our chances of victory in the war with the west were 50 out of 100. Germany's chances in this war were 100 out of 100.
General Douglas MacArthur: What are you talking about?
Shouwa-Tennou Hirohito: I'm talking about the alliance with Germany.
General Douglas MacArthur: Well, that is all in the past. There is only one unresolved issue left. That is the issue of your fate.

Connexions:

Suite de Molokh (1999)

Bande son:

4th & 5th movements from UNACCOMPANIED CELLO SUITE NO.5 C-MINOR, BWV. 1011

A God with stomach ulcers

Very powerful film-making, which leaves you feeling very unsettled. Through the minutae of his days and his every gesture, nervous tick and grimaces, it describes the last days of the living God, the Emperor of Japan. It's already perfectly clear to everyone that Japan is on its knees and the war has been won by mere mortals. It's perfectly clear, and yet the nation apparently still needs to know that its Emperor is a God. Superficially, the movie could be compared to Der Untergang, The Downfall, in that it shows a previous icon of absolute power cooped up in his bunker, days before his complete demise. The mood of these two movies is so very different, though - there was life stirring in among the ashes of Oliver Hirschbiegel's Berlin, still. There is seemingly no life left at all in the devastation surrounding the Japanese Emperor's palace and bunker. You see so little of the physical destruction, possibly because the movie had a small-ish budget and they couldn't afford complete reconstructions, but you feel it everywhere. Never before have sea creatures preserved in formaldehyde been more eerie. I was blown away by the sequences of the catfish (a recurrent subject of traditional Japanese ink drawings) swimming in the sky like bomber planes over a nuclear-war devastated nightmarish landscape. All the way through, I loved the use of classical music, seemingly distant and distorted - Bach and Wagner, and others. Every little gesture and detail in the movie matters, every camera angle and perspective is carefully planned. Some might call it slow, but to be honest I was never bored. Thankfully, the movie is also completely non-judgmental of anyone. Despite the odd wooden performance, I recommend this to anyone who is used to quality world cinema.