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Film Still

The Sun

Solntse

Switzerland, France, Italy, Russia

2005

115 Min
Color
1.78:1
English, Japanese
  • Currently 4.0/5 Stars.
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DIR Aleksandr Sokurov

PROD Igor Kalyonov, Marco Müller, Andrey Sigle

SCR Yuri Arabov, Jeremy Noble

DP Aleksandr Sokurov

CAST Issei Ogata, Robert Dawson, Kaori Momoi, Shirô Sano, Shinmei Tsuji

ED Sergei Ivanov

MUSIC Andrey Sigle

Synopsis

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. —IMDb

Director

Original

Aleksandr Sokurov

Alexander Nikolayevich Sokurov (Russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Соку́ров) (b. June 14, 1951, Podorwikha, Irkutsk Oblast) is a Russian filmmaker from St Petersburg who has been hailed as successor to renowned director Andrei Tarkovsky.

Sokurov was born in Siberia in the officer’s family on June 14, 1951. He graduated from the History Department of the Nizhny Novgorod University in 1974 and entered one of the VGIK studios the following year. There he made friends with Tarkovsky and was deeply influenced by his Mirror.

Most of Sokurov’s early features were banned by Soviet authorities. During his early period, he produced numerous documentaries, including an interview with Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and a reportage about Grigori Kozintsev’s flat in St Petersburg.

Mother and Son (1996) was his first internationally acclaimed feature film. It was mirrored by Father and Son (2003) which baffled the critics with its implicit homoeroticism (though Sokurov himself has criticized… read more

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msmichel

12Aug11

Sokurov's third film in his "men of power" series is a mature and relective take on the final days in power and diplomatic surrender of Emperor Hirohito. The potrayal by Issei Ogata is eerie and powerful and puts one in the bunker and palace in 1945 Japan. A triumph of sparce set design, editing and fine camera work (by Sokurov himself). One of the finest films the year it came out and a landmark pic for Sokurov.

Sancar Seckiner

28May11

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/movies/15lim.html

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Marcus WP

28Jul10

just got back from seeing this at anthology film archives. great movie

Langston Young likes this

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Mugino

9Oct09

Hirohito is an embarrassing historical figure for me, and this portrayal is excruciatingly embarrassing to watch. That may be an indication that the film works exceptionally well, but it was difficult for me to enjoy.

ken martin likes this

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W184

Venice 2011. Feel the Temptation

By Daniel Kasman on September 9, 2011

Aleksandr Sokurov finishes his tetralogy of power with a magnificent, grotesque adaptation of Goethe’s Faust.

read article
W184

"The Sun," "The Exiles," criticWIRE

By David Hudson on November 17, 2009

Who doesn't love the full-page grid in each issue of Film Comment tabulating ratings from eight critics for two dozen or so newish films? Whether

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