Acclaimed Russian director Alexander Sokurov (Russian Ark), in one of his greatest works, has created an incisive, haunting portrait of enigmatic Japanese emperor Hirohito (Issey Ogata) during the time just before to shortly after his country’s surrender to the Allied forces, ending WWII. The distracted, defeated leader whose days until then had been filled with rituals and hobbies like writing poetry and studying marine biology, must now face his destiny, publicly renounce his divine status to his citizenry, and honorable face American General Douglas MacArthur to lay the foundation for post-war Japan. Not meant to be a factual, historical drama, this accomplished, provocative film examines the psychology of power at a moment of transition.