二战末期,轴心国败局已定,作为“邪恶轴心”一员的日本更面临巨大危机。亚太战场节节失利,两颗原子弹进一步摧毁了日本人的心理防线。作为日本最高统帅的裕仁天皇(尾形一成 饰),此时此刻面临着痛苦的抉择。 黑云压城城欲摧,这个身形瘦小的男人,他的内心世界无人能近…… 本片为俄罗斯导演亚历山大•索科洛夫“20世纪统治者三部曲”(亦作“统帅三部曲”)中的第三部,前后制作共花费8年时间,影片被评为2005年亚美尼亚埃里温国际电影节最佳影片。As Japan nears defeat at the end of World War II, Emperor Hirohito starts his day in a bunker underneath the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. A servant reads to him a list of activities for the day, including a meeting with his ministers, marine biology research, and writing his son. Hirohito muses about the impact on such schedules when the Americans arrive but is told that as long as there is a solitary Japanese person living, the Americans will not reach The Emperor. Hirohito replies that he at times feels like he himself will be the last Japanese person left alive. The servant reminds him that he is a deity, not a person, but Hirohito points out that he has a body just like any other man. He later reflects on the causes of the war when dictating observations about a hermit crab, and then about the peace to come when composing a letter to his son. Soon enough General Douglas MacArthur's personal car is sent to bring him through the ruins of Tokyo for a meeting with the supreme commander of the victorious occupying forces. Underlying all the conversation that follows is the question of Hirohito's future, either as Emperor or a war criminal. The two very different men strangely bond after sharing dinner and Havana cigars, and Hirohito leaves, renounces his divine nature, and is re-united with his family in the palace to face a new life to help re-build his war-ravaged country as a constitutional monarch.