Although I like Tommy Lee Jones, I have to say right off that I was not entirely convinced by Tommy Lee Jones as Douglas MacArthur. He didn't seem to work in the role for me. That was something of a distraction, probably overcome by the fact that MacArthur was not front and centre in this. That place went to General Bonner Fellers (played by Matthew Fox.) Fellers was the American general who played a key role in investigating war crimes and making recommendations on charges to MacArthur.
Ostensibly, the movie deals with the question of whether Emperor Hirohito should be tried as a war criminal. There's a good consideration of both sides of that debate; the pros and cons of trying Hirohito. Based, however, on my admittedly limited knowledge of what happened in post-war Japan, though, I'm not sure that the question was as open as depicted here. My understanding has been that the Americans never intended to try Hirohito and that it was with MacArthur's open concept that Fellers made sure that his reports recommended against the idea. That aside, the movie provides an interesting glimpse into the Japanese culture of the era, the reverence the Japanese held for their Emperor and the practical difficulties that would have been created by a trial.
The movie weaves some of the quasi-historical narrative around the war crimes decision with a fictional story of a past romance between Fellers and a Japanese woman named Aya, that began at a college in the United States. We see flashbacks of that relationship, and at least a part of the movie is Fellers' search for Aya in the post-war world. The impression given is that the relationship perhaps softened Fellers' attitude toward the Japanese. I wasn't entirely taken with the need for the Aya storyline. I thought there was enough in the war crimes investigation to keep the movie going without that intrusion, although I concede that Aya was a likable enough character, and I did want to find out what her fate had been.
As a straight war crimes movie, this would probably get a higher rating. As it stands - 7/10.
Ostensibly, the movie deals with the question of whether Emperor Hirohito should be tried as a war criminal. There's a good consideration of both sides of that debate; the pros and cons of trying Hirohito. Based, however, on my admittedly limited knowledge of what happened in post-war Japan, though, I'm not sure that the question was as open as depicted here. My understanding has been that the Americans never intended to try Hirohito and that it was with MacArthur's open concept that Fellers made sure that his reports recommended against the idea. That aside, the movie provides an interesting glimpse into the Japanese culture of the era, the reverence the Japanese held for their Emperor and the practical difficulties that would have been created by a trial.
The movie weaves some of the quasi-historical narrative around the war crimes decision with a fictional story of a past romance between Fellers and a Japanese woman named Aya, that began at a college in the United States. We see flashbacks of that relationship, and at least a part of the movie is Fellers' search for Aya in the post-war world. The impression given is that the relationship perhaps softened Fellers' attitude toward the Japanese. I wasn't entirely taken with the need for the Aya storyline. I thought there was enough in the war crimes investigation to keep the movie going without that intrusion, although I concede that Aya was a likable enough character, and I did want to find out what her fate had been.
As a straight war crimes movie, this would probably get a higher rating. As it stands - 7/10.