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January 29th, 2010 | by Alive Mind Education | published in Film Info, Films Q-S, The Sun
Alexander Sokurov continues his brilliant investigation into the lives of dictators with the “engrossing, supremely assured” (Village Voice) The Sun. He has followed up his portrait of Hitler in Moloch (1999) and Lenin in Taurus (2001) with this mesmerizing tour of Emperor Hirohito’s final days in power during the waning days of WWII.
Hirohito, played by Issei Ogata (Yi Yi) with “an impish wit” (Variety), wanders through his palace in a child-like state of denial. He spends his time studying marine biology and paging through a photo album of Hollywood stars. His patient chamberlain (Shiro Sano) encourages his isolation through banal daily rituals, which include “time for private thought.” But reality soon invades, as American soldiers overrun his manicured gardens and nightmare visions of Hiroshima invade his dreams. No longer a God among men, he is forced to kowtow to General MacArthur (Robert Dawson), who softly pushes the terms of the occupation and, even more dramatically, for the renunciation of his divinity.
One of the best of 2009 (NY Times), The Sun is an elegantly constructed meditation on absolute power and how it dissipates the man who wields it.
“fascinating…terrific.”
-The New York Times
“It is the profoundest and aesthetically most satisfying of his excursions into biography, films in which his preoccupation with dreams serves what may be his real interest: history.”
–Daniel Mendelsohn, New York Review of Books
“…staggering and brilliant.”
-TimeOut NY
“One of the best films of the year.”
-Art Forum
“…engrossing, supremely assured…”
-Village Voice
The Sun Product Information
Grade Level: College and University
Subjects: Culture, History
Copyright: © Alive Mind Education 2010
Set: DVD Only
Total Running Time: 115 minutes
Educational Prices:
Educational with Public Performance Rights: $249.00
Educational without Public Performance Rights: $129.00
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