Emperor

"After the war was won, the battle for peace began."

2012 1h 45m EN

😐

6.2

MID

★6.2TMDB · 291

DramaHistoryWar

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

As the Japanese surrender at the end of WWII, Gen. Fellers is tasked with deciding if Emperor Hirohito will be hanged as a war criminal. Influencing his ruling is his quest to find Aya, an exchange student he met years earlier in the U.S.

“After the war was won, the battle for peace began.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Matthew Fox
General Bonner Fellers
Tommy Lee Jones
General Douglas MacArthur
Eriko Hatsune
Aya Shimada
Masayoshi Haneda
Takahashi
Kaori Momoi
Mitsuko Kajima
Toshiyuki Nishida
General Kajima
Colin Moy
General Richter
Masatô Ibu
Koichi Kido

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Peter Webber
Writers: Vera Blasi, David Klass
Languages: English, Japanese
Countries: Japan, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 14 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Japanese.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Japan, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Peter Webber, shot by Stuart Dryburgh. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Alex Heffes. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Matthew Fox and Tommy Lee Jones and Eriko Hatsune carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

AWARDS

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "After the war was won, the battle for peace began.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt2103264 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Peter Webber directs. Stuart Dryburgh behind the camera. Alex Heffes scores. Produced in Japan, United States of America. Dialogue in English, Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 14 years ago.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Japanese.
3International production across 2 countries: Japan, United States of America.
4Directed by Peter Webber, shot by Stuart Dryburgh. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Alex Heffes. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Matthew Fox and Tommy Lee Jones and Eriko Hatsune carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "After the war was won, the battle for peace began.".
8IMDB entry: tt2103264 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 8 themes, including "atomic bomb", "emperor", "based on true story", "japanese surrender".

The technical file

Cinematography: Stuart Dryburgh
Original score: Alex Heffes
Production design: Grant Major
Costume design: Ngila Dickson
Makeup / hair: Claire Rutledge
VFX supervisor: Julian Dimsey
Sound: Gilbert Lake
Stunt coordinator: Allan Poppleton
Runtime: 105 min · 1h 45m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $14,858,240
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Emperor (2012)

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Peter Webber

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Community reviews

What people are saying

TomStensson2013-06-08
An ambitious attempt to describe a very important problem facing MacArthur when he became Supreme Commander over Japan: should he drag the emperor to a war crime tribunal in order to appease politicians back home in the US who felt that the voters wanted it, or should he be more concerned about restoring Japan as quickly as possible to ensure that communism didn't get a foothold there?<br/> Unfortunately, the story misses many opportunities to more deeply explore cultural differences and moral dilemmas, and instead is filled with several distracting short scenes and sidelines that confuse rather than enlighten.<br/> It could have been a great film, but now it's just decent.

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