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#709 - Empire of the Sun
Steven Spielberg, 1987
During World War II, a young English boy gets caught up in the middle of the Japanese invasion of China.
Following on from Spielberg's first foray into making Serious Films with 1985's The Color Purple, Empire of the Sun can also be perceived as another step on the man's cinematic journey from light entertainments to prestigious dramas. Based on the autobiographical novel by J.G. Ballard, it tells the tale of a young English boy (Christian Bale) whose life of wealth and privilege is disrupted by the Japanese military invading Shanghai in the lead-up to their involvement in World War II. Bale does his best to survive on his own but eventually circumstances drive him to surrender to Japanese custody and be incarcerated in a prison camp. While an admittedly basic plot, it is enough to sustain a rather lengthy wartime drama that frames the horrors of war through a relatively accessible story of a boy trying to make it through alive and hopefully be reunited with his parents. Thanks to my anachronic progress through Spielberg's filmography, the tale of a young boy being separated from his family and doing whatever he can if it means reconnecting with them did seem a bit familiar since it later served as a similar plot for A.I. Artificial Intelligence. While that particular story was rooted in tragic fatalism underneath its sci-fi fairytale surface, Empire of the Sun is like many a prison film in that it holds out a glimmer of hope underneath its incredibly arduous circumstances.
Spielberg's capacity for creating scenes of wartime carnage and horror is relatively neutered by the film's status as a relatively accessible story about a young boy, but one can still appreciate the scale whether it's in the streets that are crowded with panicked citizens or the post-invasion aftermath where opulent mansions are silent save for the once-overworked servants ransacking them. The bulk of the film is a prisoner-of-war kind of deal as Bale teams up with an amoral American conman (John Malkovich), who proves the kind of difficult father figure that has appeared in many a Spielberg film. Though Bale has naturally made quite the name for himself as an adult, even as a child he brings his signature intensity to a challenging role that could have easily gotten grating but works well in his precocious hands. It is definitely one of those films where other actors drift in and out of the story as necessary, with Malkovich providing the most constant adult presence as a snarky Fagin-like figure whose interest in Bale's well-being is primarily rooted in relying on him to help him with his shamelessly opportunistic scams. Though it's definitely a little on the long side, it does develop quite the emotional core even though it may not break any seriously new ground either in general or for Spielberg himself.
Steven Spielberg, 1987
During World War II, a young English boy gets caught up in the middle of the Japanese invasion of China.
Following on from Spielberg's first foray into making Serious Films with 1985's The Color Purple, Empire of the Sun can also be perceived as another step on the man's cinematic journey from light entertainments to prestigious dramas. Based on the autobiographical novel by J.G. Ballard, it tells the tale of a young English boy (Christian Bale) whose life of wealth and privilege is disrupted by the Japanese military invading Shanghai in the lead-up to their involvement in World War II. Bale does his best to survive on his own but eventually circumstances drive him to surrender to Japanese custody and be incarcerated in a prison camp. While an admittedly basic plot, it is enough to sustain a rather lengthy wartime drama that frames the horrors of war through a relatively accessible story of a boy trying to make it through alive and hopefully be reunited with his parents. Thanks to my anachronic progress through Spielberg's filmography, the tale of a young boy being separated from his family and doing whatever he can if it means reconnecting with them did seem a bit familiar since it later served as a similar plot for A.I. Artificial Intelligence. While that particular story was rooted in tragic fatalism underneath its sci-fi fairytale surface, Empire of the Sun is like many a prison film in that it holds out a glimmer of hope underneath its incredibly arduous circumstances.
Spielberg's capacity for creating scenes of wartime carnage and horror is relatively neutered by the film's status as a relatively accessible story about a young boy, but one can still appreciate the scale whether it's in the streets that are crowded with panicked citizens or the post-invasion aftermath where opulent mansions are silent save for the once-overworked servants ransacking them. The bulk of the film is a prisoner-of-war kind of deal as Bale teams up with an amoral American conman (John Malkovich), who proves the kind of difficult father figure that has appeared in many a Spielberg film. Though Bale has naturally made quite the name for himself as an adult, even as a child he brings his signature intensity to a challenging role that could have easily gotten grating but works well in his precocious hands. It is definitely one of those films where other actors drift in and out of the story as necessary, with Malkovich providing the most constant adult presence as a snarky Fagin-like figure whose interest in Bale's well-being is primarily rooted in relying on him to help him with his shamelessly opportunistic scams. Though it's definitely a little on the long side, it does develop quite the emotional core even though it may not break any seriously new ground either in general or for Spielberg himself.