Film Review: Emperor

The act of war conjures up brutal imagery of death and violence—the focal point of most war films. Emperor, while undeniably a war film, chooses to move away from the battlefield. It provides insight into the end of World War II and examines the resulting devastation and the duties of the still-occupying armies. Set after the Japanese surrender, Emperor follows the story of General Bonner Fellers (Matthew Fox) and his investigation of Emperor Hirohito (Takatarô Kataoka) as a war criminal.

By accompanying Fellers as he struggles for post-war peace, Emperor personalizes war. The audience is presented with a face and a name for every Japanese figure under investigation, and alongside General Fellers, we learn about Japanese culture. No one is vilified and every character’s point of view is clearly explained. Interlaced with flashbacks, Fellers’ story includes his past love affair with a Japanese woman, the remnants of which still affect him deeply. His commanding officer, General Douglas MacArthur (Tommy Lee Jones), allows larger political aspirations to taint military decisions. Even Fellers’ Japanese driver has a backstory and a presence that changes the on-screen dynamic. War feels larger than life, but the film shows us its effects on numerous individual scales.

Emperor is an original take on the most popular war in Hollywood. It has lots of potential to be creative, but its leading man fails to incorporate new ideas as well the rest of the film does. General Fellers is now the man responsible for preventing Japan’s unrest from turning into an uprising. He is also tormented by the fate of a past love. Sounds like the making for a great tragic hero, but the most fitting description for Fellers is that he’s a good guy. He’s not particularly complex. He says what he means and he means what he says. He does not undergo a particularly significant transformation and his emotions throughout the film are best described as happy, sad and eventually resolute. The nature and style of the film are a little slow-moving; without a captivating protagonist, the film is borderline-boring.

There is only one other negative: no effort was made to make Fellers appear youthful during his flashbacks to college. He has the same touch of gray as he had many years later. While seemingly insignificant, these inconsistencies take the viewer out of the moment. However, the topic discussed and the dilemmas faced in Emperor are complicated and thought-provoking. Unfortunately, all the pieces of the film are not so stimulating, and it therefore falls short of what it could accomplish.