Empire of the Sun (1987)
I am a firm believer in the beauty of the written word. I have read books after seeing the movie or vice-versa and in many cases the movie failed to rise to the the written story’s perfection. Well, Empire of the Sun the movie, did J.G. Ballard a service, by making an arid mediocre book into something amazing. Maybe it’s because I read a translation, maybe I wasn’t in the mood, I don’t know. The fact is the book was a bad experience for me, while the movie is one of my all-time-favourites.
Steven Spielberg is known for some pretty successful movies and this one, at least in my opinion, deserved those 6 Oscar nominations. But let’s try and recall some of the “action” and maybe see clearly what made this movie such a great experience for me.
We’re taken back in time to the World War II. Instead of seeing the war in Europe as we might be used to (at least from another Spilberg movie perspective), we travel even further, to Shanghai. Japan invaded China and the war is more real than ever.
A small smart and still “bratty” boy, Jim Graham (Christian Bale) is more interested in planes and his normal child activities than the tragedy hitting their family. While trying to flee the country, his British parents are separated from the kid. He is now alone, in a crazed crowd, learning to survive. Living alone in their rich villa, with no one to care or feed him proves to be a task he’s able to manage pretty well.
But his life will take a stranger turn, when Jim is taken to the Soo Chow confinement camp. He is able to still keep on developing as a teenager, learn and instill optimism and dignity in the people who share his destiny. It’s amazing to see how a kid can get through all these horrors without sacrificing his passion and innocence.
There are lots of lessons to be learnt for him. Treason doesn’t come always from the clear enemies, friendship can come in the most unexpected ways and a common passion can rebuild relationships an entire war tries to destroy.
We meet John Malkovich (one of the actors I love dearly) as a not so honest person .. well, to be fair, I think he is the NORMAL man who has the normal reactions an adult would have in the given situation. He’s not a kid anymore and there are values he no longer believes in.
The movie is JUST BEAUTIFUL. Excellent directic job, at least in my opinion. A very powerful movie, maybe with an easy to foresee end, but still an amazing production. It’s been years since I first watched it and it’s been a favourite of mine for quite some time. If you haven’t seen it yet, please take it as a personal recommendation to try watch it. If you know it, then please tell me if you liked it as much as I did 
Tags: 1987, Christian Bale, Empire of the Sun, John Malkovich, Steven Spielberg
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