Finely observed, exquisitely shot and immaculately performed, The Sun portrays a tormented leader redeemed by his own adaptability.
Comment
06/15/07
The Sun (2005)
91
%
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Reviews Counted:22
Fresh:20
Rotten:2
Average Rating:8/10
Consensus: Certainly not for the impatient, Aleksandr Sokurov's deliberately paced look at Hirohito in the waning days of World War II is both enlightening and admirable in its restraint.
Reviews for The Sun
Top CriticThe measured direction can feel sluggish as the camera refuses to cut away from lengthy scenes of people getting dressed or filing out of rooms, but Ogata's multi-layered performance more than compensates.
09/10/05
Top CriticFinds beauty, madness and outright bizarreness in the sight of a lost, slightly freakish man attempting to understand his altering reality.
12/07/09
The early portions of The Sun are almost nightmarish in their cold shots of Hirohito trudging slowly through bleak hallways, coiffed to a sterile perfection.
12/03/09
The Sun took four years to reach American theaters, but the long delay hasn’t diminished the force of Sokurov’s experimentation.
11/19/09
First shown at the Berlin Film Festival four years ago, The Sun is finally receiving its welcome American theatrical release, which means that one of the best movies of 2005 is now also one of the best of 2009.
11/19/09
Top CriticBoasts stylish cinematography and a well-nuanced, gentle performance by Issey Ogata, but it often drags and fails to be truly captivating and engrossing as a character study.
11/18/09
Though he successfully humanizes Hirohito, who is shown happily shedding his divinity, Sokurov doesn't entirely exonerate him.
11/17/09
A grippingly disturbing film that presents a new perspective on the Emperor than the usual one ladled out in most American school history courses.
07/05/08
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08/18/07
Sokurov sees his titans of history as men playing gods, and Hirohito’s climactic renunciation of his divinity is the deeply affecting end point.
06/24/06
The film is slow, claustrophobic, and dark in many senses, but is highly provocative. THE SUN is reminiscent of THE LAST EMPEROR, and is actually more intelligent.
06/08/06
Since this is a man more or less stripped of emotion, it's like watching a newborn fawn, violently ripped from its safety and learning its way in the world.
05/04/06
It's an outrageously long-winded drama that's awfully directed with the skill of a high school play.
03/24/06
By the end, just like the emperor is metaphorically, we're in a literal state of twilight, unable to see what lies ahead.
03/07/06
As usual, Sokurov's unhurried pacing will test the patience of more fidgety viewers, although the script is more accessible than some of his recent efforts.
02/10/06
Top CriticWhile The Sun staunchly refuses to pass judgement on a figure considered by many to be a war criminal, it does essay a vivid portrait of the utter experiential vacuum that attends the stupefyingly powerful: the Emperor has no clue.
02/10/06
The Sun may be a kind of cinematic masterpiece, it's just not a morally defensible one.
02/10/06
The Sun accomplishes the greatest feat that any historical film can: to leave the viewer more confused and uncertain about her knowledge than she was before the film began.
11/01/05
Sokurov and screenwriter Yuri Arabov aren't trying to recreate history as much as humanize Hirohito through surreal demystification... one of the best films of the year.
10/12/05
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