Replies

The Movie Reviews

"Emperor"

With Tommy Lee Jones, Matthew Fox, Kaori Momoi, Eriko Hatsune, Isao Natsuyagi, Aaron Jackson, Toshiyuki
Nishida, Masayoshi Haneda, Shohei Hino

2012, PG-13 for violence, brief strong language, and smoking (historical) 105 minutes

After Emperor Hirohito surrendered and ended Japan's war with the United States, General Douglas MacArthur (Jones)
and his generals (Fox, Jackson, et al.) begin work on Japanese reconstruction. MacArthur orders General Fellers (Fox)
to investigate the Emperor and his war staff for possible prosecution for war crimes. General Fellers is also searching for
his college sweetheart (Momoi), a Japanese teacher studying in the United States at the same college. He manages to
accomplish his goals. This is an interesting story about post-war Japan and her struggle back to normalcy. I learned a lot
from this movie.
★★★★

"Soundless"

With Joachim Krol, Nadja Uhl, Christian Berkel, Rudolf Martin, Lisa Martinek

2004, Not Rated, 96 minutes, In German with subtitles.

A 9-year-old boy whose parents were ordered killed by a crime boss is taken under the tutelage of an old assassin. He
kills the crime boss using his new training, so silently that no one realizes the man is dead until his own son arrives and finds
the body. The newly wrought killer (Krol) becomes an assassin for his mentor, killing criminals and drug lords. On one of
his jobs 25 years later, he kills the mark in his signature silence, but he leaves a sleeping woman (Uhl) to her dreams. When
she finds her one-night stand dead on the balcony, she tries to drown herself, but the killer rescues her. They become an item,
and his "work" doesn't seem so important anymore. It sounds awful, but it is a really nice story with a great ending.
★★★★