Amoung the movies of great interest in history this year, I recommend people see The Emperor with Tommy Lee Jones.
The movie covers the critical six month period of the U.S. Occupation of Japan after World War II from September 1945 to March 1946. This is where history could have radically turned in Asia had Communism gained a serious foothold and if Emperor Hirohito had been tried as a war criminal, both monumental pivots depended on Supreme Aliied Commander General Douglas MacArthur and his sour relationship to President Harry Truman.
At one point, MacArthur warned Truman that if he didn't recieve critical supplies to forstall the starvation and suffering ravanging Japan, he should send bullets for the country was heading towards all out chaos.
MacArthur's understanding of Asian culture and his adroit understanding of the political winds not only saved Emperor Hirohito but preserved Japan from the communist chaos sweaping most of mainland Asia. Imagine what things might be like today if Japan were like divided Korea with a DMZ running through Tokyo and you understand just how critical this six month period was to the rest of history.
The Emperor is brilliantly executed and Jone's portrail of MacArthur is the best I've seen since Gregory Peck's 1975 movie role.
For those of you interested in Japanese history, I reccomend this movie.
