Empire of the Sun, a drama of a boy's survival in WW II

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	• Empire of the Sun Hiro Arai, Christian Bale Warner Home Video, 2001 average customer review:based on 246 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Empire of the Sun, a drama of a boy's survival in WW II

An excellent film that has been underrated in my opinion. Watching the young British boy mature amid the ravishes of World War II is a poignant experience. Stephen Spielberg expertly creates the era and the place and takes us into the heart of the boy Jim. This was Christian Bale's first movie. He was twelve or thirteen at the time and already had a strong enough screen presence to match John Malkovich scene for scene, and that's quite a feat. One caveat, Empire is not a movie for children even though it is about a child.

An outstanding achievement

As someone who dislikes Spielberg movies for their triteness and reliance on mind-numbing plots, I forewent seeing Empire of the Sun for years because I assumed it would be another "Schindler's List" or worse. In fact, Empire of the Sun is the only Spielberg movie I can wholeheartedly recommend. The cinematography, acting, script, and direction are all virtually flawless. Other reviewers have rightly lauded Christian Bale's astonishing performance, but it must be said that there isn't a weak moment in the entire movie.

Even for those familiar with Ballard's original work, from which the movie is taken, won't be disappointed. This is very much a must-see movie for anyone who cares about great film making.

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HARD TO FIND STUFF

I've been looking for this movie and its beautiful music for a long time and finally found it. I guess I just didn't look in the right places. I am now much wiser.

Remember, We're British

Empire of the Sun

Based on J.G. Ballard's autobiographical book of the same name, "Empire of the Sun" follows the life of a young British schoolboy caught in the Japanese invasion of Shanghai. The British tried to recreate England in their enclave, complete with Church of England services and elaborate costume parties. As the Japanese advance the British evacuate, mostly by sea to Hong Kong and Singapore. The boy, James Graham,(Christian Bale in a remarkable film debut) is separated from his parents and is befriended by a couple of scruffy American blackmarketers (John Malkovich and Joe Pantoliano). They are interned in a Japanese camp for the duration of the war, where once again they re-create a microcosm of England, complete with its own economy, bartering, and social hierarchy. "Remember, we're British" as the camp doctor tells Jim, who quickly learns how to survive in a prison camp through bartering, bullying, and theft.
Evacuation and imprisonment is also the theme of Roland Joffe's "The Killing Fields," based on New York Times journalist Sydney Schanberg's friendship with his Cambodian interpreter, Dith Pran during the Khmer Rouge takeover of Phnom Penh. (Sam Waterston plays Schanberg, and Dr. Haing S. Ngor is Dith Pran, winning a much deserved "Best Supporting Actor" for his first film role.)
Spielberg also dealt with imprisonment in "Schindler's List" and, in a way, with the loss of the familiar in "E.T." (?)
In both stories, the Western superpowers abandon their native servants and compatriots. Schanberg manages to get Pran's family out of Cambodia on the last flight, but loses Pran, who ends up in a Khmer Rouge "Re-education" camp as part of Pol Pot's twisted sense of socialism. Overcome with guilt, Schanberg spends years trying to find Dith Pran.
Both directors convey a great sense of place; "Empire" was the first movie filmed in Mainland China since the Revolution, and it carefully creates the mood of 1940's Shanghai. "The Killing Fields" was shot in Thailand, where many of the Cambodian refugees ended up. Both films carry political messages - among them that the comfort zone of the establishment is easily undone by its hubris.
I give both movies four and a half stars. (5 Being for Genius)
The Killing Fields

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An Interesting and Inspiring Bit of History

I first saw "Empire of the Sun" in the Lakes District in England with an Australian stranger named Alf. (I'm not making this up.) Though a literature major in college, this film made me realize how few in-depth, behind-the-scenes, real history lessons I learned in my regular high school and college classes. The film started me on a journey to learn more. I now teach Social Studies and English to high-schoolers and try to always make sure my students understand that history is people and people are stories.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Roundly dismissed as one of Steven Spielberg's least successful efforts, this very underrated film poignantly follows the World War II adventures of young Jim (a brilliant Christian Bale), caught in the throes of the fall of China. What if you once had everything and lost it all in an afternoon? What if you were only 12? Bale's transformation, from pampered British ruling-class child to an imprisoned, desperate, nearly feral boy, is nothing short of stunning. Also stunning are exceptional sets, cinematography, and music (the last courtesy of John Williams) that enhance author J.G. Ballard's and screenwriter Tom Stoppard's depiction of another, less familiar casualty of war.

In a time when competitors were releasing "comedic," derivative coming-of-age films, Empire of the Sun stands out as an epic in the classic David Lean sense--despite confusion or perceived competition with the equally excellent The Last Emperor (also released in 1987, and also a coming-of-age in a similar setting). It is also a remarkable testament to, yes, the human spirit. And despite its disappointing box-office returns, Empire of the Sun helped to further establish Spielberg as more than a commercial director and set the standard, tone, and look for future efforts Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan. --N.F. Mendoza

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recommendations

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