 |
| Above, Tommy Lee Jones as Gen. Douglas MacArthur. |
One movie opening (today) I am looking forward to seeing is Emperor,
starring Tommy Lee Jones as Gen. Douglas MacArthur. Jones is one of my favorite actors and never
fails sink his teeth into great material and deliver a great performance.
Emperor is a Japanese American co-production that involves the post-World War II
dilemma of Gen. MacArthur on what to do about Emperor Hirohito (Emperor
Showa). The dilemma that MacArthur had
to face was whether or not Hirohito should stand trial for war crimes, which
would mean certain execution. If he were
to stand trial and convicted, Hirohito's execution (who was still considered by
the Japanese as their "Divine Leader") would enrage the Japanese and
if he were not to stand trial, it would enrage America.
His problem was (more or less) settled for him as the Japanese surrendered
with only one condition: they could keep their emperor.
Americans were rankled in 1945 when MacArthur didn't put Hirohito on
trial. But the decision not to paved the
way for the now-close relations between the United States and Japan. Japan is now an important ally to America.
I am reminded that the 1977 release, MacArthur (with Gregory Peck in
the title role) glossed over this part of MacArthur's story. Its focus was more on MacArthur's disputes
with President Harry Truman during the Korean War. It was Truman who gave the task of heading up
the occupation forces in Japan to MacArthur following Japan's surrender on
August 15, 1945.
Today, the role of the Japanese emperor is more ceremonial (like the
monarchy in the United Kingdom) as part of the surrender agreement has the
condition that the emperor had to renounce his divinity.
This part of post-World War II history has not been discussed much. Generally speaking, it has pretty much been
swept under the rug.
 |
| Above, the Nijubashi Bridge at the Imperial Palace. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
It is interesting to note that some parts of the movie were filmed on the
grounds of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo as well as in New Zealand.
According to an article on the movie in the Los Angeles Times, since
Hirohito's death in 1989, some historians have come to believe that Hirohito's
role in World War II was not as blameless as was once thought. It was thought previously that Hirohito was a
pawn of the Japanese militarists. It
will be interesting to see how the movie treats this.
1 comment:
Try reading "Japans' Imperial Conspiracy" by David Bergamini. It lays a LOT of the blame at the feet of the Emporer.
A plus is that it goes into a LOT of early Japanese history.
The book may be out of print but worth the search.
Post a Comment