Review of Emperor (2012) by Alvin Y — 03 Oct 2013

It's probably one of the better history dramas ever to put on film. This kind of story would have been filmed a long time ago. Ah, there's the Gregory Peck version of MacArthur in the 70's but this is more of what is not told in that movie.

The performances is sometimes sketchy, but that doesn't bother with the effective storytelling and the lesson of honor and redemption after the WWII. This should be shown at History class now, because it's the kind of movie where students will learn not only the effects of WWII, but also what made Japanese surrendered after that Atomic bombing in 1945 in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and bombing the Pearl Harbor at 1941.

There's also the subplot about the romance between a Japanese woman and our main character, and that pays off too as well about how foreigners are being treated by the Japanese people, and some other ideas and beliefs about honor, freedom, justice, etc.

So, this is one of the bests of 2013, it's a shame that it's only a DVD release and not a big budget release, what a miss!