Popcorn and Inspiration: 2012’s ‘Emperor’: Japan’s Emperor Offered Himself to Be Punished

Imagine if the president of the United States was considered by U.S. citizenry to be a living god.

March 8, 2013 (U.S. release)| PG-13 | 1h 45m

Imagine if the president of the United States was considered by the U.S. citizenry to be a living god—an actual god walking the earth. The very concept boggles the mind. But so it was with Emperor Hirohito of Japan; his deification reflected the ancient heritage of emperors considered to be as divine as they were human. This was not only an Eastern tradition. The same was true with Western kings and queens although the legacy weakened over time.

History

The film: It’s the end of World War II; atomic mushroom clouds hover over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan breaks down. American politicians demand to know whether the Japanese “god” Hirohito (Takataro Kataoka), instigated Pearl Harbor. Someone has to get to the bottom of it. The poetically rendered “Emperor” tells this story.