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Empire of the Sun 1987 |
Review by Jonathan Cornwell |
Directed by Steven Spielberg
PG, 154 min. (language) |
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Starring: Christian Bale, John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson, Nigel Havers, Ben Stiller, Joe Pantoliano, Leslie Phillips
Producers: Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Steven Spielberg
Screenplay: Tom Stoppard, J.G. Ballard
Cinematography: Allen Daviau
Distributor: Warner Brothers
Released: 12.09.87 (Wide) |
Rating:
 (out of ) |
You can see how Steven Spielberg has grown as a director - from his early family adventure movies such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and E.T., to the more serious The Color Purple,
Empire of the Sun, and finally his masterpiece Schindler's List.
However, the transition to the more serious films can sometimes be difficult, as some of those difficulties are evident in
Empire of the Sun. Though not at the level of his other great films, the beautiful cinematography and near-epic moments in the
movie make this film a satisfying experience.
A young boy, Jim (Christian Bale), dreams of flying fighter planes as he grows up in China with his British parents. Soon,
however, his bubble of protection is burst when the Japanese invade Beijing and his family is forced to flee. In the ensuing
chaos, he is separated from his parents and left to fend for himself among the anarchic people in the streets. Soon he meets
an American merchant seaman named Basie (John Malkovich), who takes sympathy on the boy and looks out for him once
they are forced into a prison camp during World War II. This is where the real story begins - Jim's associations within the
camp and his fading memories of his life before the war. At one point, he can't even remember what his parents look like.
Even though he is forced to grow up quickly in the camp, he still has the dream of flying planes one day - even saluting
and making friends with the Japanese pilots that are routinely making kamakaze runs from an airfield located next to the
prison camp.
There are a few scenes in the movie that seem forced and manipulative - especially in one of the closing scenes with Jim's
young Japanese friend, but the overall feeling Spielberg is trying to create is effective. Christian Bale gives a strong performance
as Jim, whose complete range of emotions are evident - from an innocent, immature boy, to a mature, though
hardened, teenager. Also effective is John Malkovich, who seems adept at any part he plays.
But the real strength of the film is the pictures and mood that the film creates - it envelops you in its colors and scenery, and
though not always comfortable, it makes you feel what a prison camp during the war may have been like. You see that
war is brutal, but that one can turn almost any place in which they live feel like home. This is evident at the end of the movie
when Jim doesn't want to leave - it's really all he knows or cares to remember in his life. He is reluctant to leave the camp
and reunite with his parents, until he can actually feel and hold his mother once more.
Empire of the Sun is not a masterpiece by any stretch, but it is a thought-provoking and entertaining film that will definitely
find a place among the better movies of the 1980s. The journey that we take with Jim has all the elements - wonder, innocence,
terror, belongingness, and in the end, happiness. And that journey is one worth taking.
© 2001 Jonathan Cornwell
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 | Masterpiece - Film perfection |
 | Excellent - A Must See |
| Good - Highly Recommended |
| Fair - Worth seeing |
| Average - Viewable, but not recommended |
| Below average - View at own risk |
| Poor - Avoid at all costs |
| Very poor - An embarassment to the film industry |
| Zero | Awful - One of the worst films ever made |
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