Empire of the Sun

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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

Description

Steven Spielberg's epic about a youngster's harrowing and remarkable experiences in World War II-era China after the Japanese invasion. Best Picture,Director/ National Board of Review.

Customer Reviews:

*****.......2007-09-03

Christian Bale portrays Jim a young spoiled British boy living in Singapore before the start of World War II. His world collapses when he is seperated from his parent and intered in a Japanese prison camp for civilian. In this unique environment Jim grows and the war end. The young boy is changed forever by his experiences. Great movie.

Corey Cotta, Author of All of Yesterdays Tomorrows

Super Great Film.......2007-08-31

After viewing the film a couple times I then read most of the reviews. I was astounded that so many reviews didn't pick up on the greatness of the film. But then I read Mike Sobocinski's review. He offered an insightful analysis that suggested to me why so many viewers got lost. I say to one and all future viewers, read Mike's analysis. It will open up a world of understanding about this film. It certainly did for me. Mike's review, however, didn't mention these: 1. The best juvenile performance I've ever seen. 2. John William's fabulous sound track, especially his composition of "Exsultate Justi." 3. The rich treble voice of James Rainbird singing "Suo Gan." I only hope that the famous critics give this movie another look.

A rather remarkable film.......2007-08-17

In 1941, the world changes for a British boy after the Japanese invade Shanghai, China at the height of World War II. His family is forced to flee. But during the chaos that ensues, he becomes separated from his mother and father. His life of wealth and privilege is quickly erased.

Left to his own devices, he then meets two lowlifes - Basie and his sidekick Frank. Against Frank's wishes, Basie takes the hyper-active boy under his wing. But they are soon captured and placed in an internment camp where they spend the next 4 years. During imprisonment, Mr. and Mrs. Victor fill the role of surrogate parents who look after him.

Relics of his recent past often get him into trouble but serve as symbols throughout the story. Going back for his toy airplane (a symbol of his boyhood) is the reason he was separated from his parents in the first place. Another symbol of his past are the golf shoes. When he leaves them behind, it nearly gets him killed.

Near the end, he discards his suitcase filled with personal items marking a break from the past. After the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, his life takes another turn.

STEVEN SPIELB ERG IS THE BEST.......2007-08-11

THIS IS ONE OF MY ALL-TIME FAVORITES.
EARLY CHRISTIAN BALE-- GREAT ACTOR!

Explanation and analysis.......2007-07-26

It has become clear to me that I need to write a full interpretation of the film in order to help numerous other viewers understand some of the richness of this brilliant screenplay. There is no way to fully do justice in the space allotted for an Amazon review, but here are the most important points.
1. Viewers and critics should be aware that the film is based on a novel, in surreal style, by J.G. Ballard (notice: J.G. - the Jim Graham character in the film), who based the work on his own World War II experiences in the Pacific Theater. I read this novel back before the film ever came out, and it's my assessment that the film is actually better than the novel, although at the time it took me two viewings to start to appreciate what the film did. (The first viewing made me familiar with the surface story and allowed me to start to recognize motifs as symbols and metaphor during the second and subsequent viewings.)
2. Following the surreal precedent of the book, but also meshing very well with the Spielberg style, is that many events are not meant to be taken as a literal presentation of reality. This should be clear as a result of the early presentation of Jim's fantasy flight sequence in the downed plane. In literature, the device would be called an unreliable narrator, but the film has a point of view rather than an actual narrator, and so it takes the form of sometimes presenting things as the character perceives them, rather than how things probably would have actually happened in reality. The car crashing through the boards at the end, for example, is a representation of "the Helldrivers of Shanghai" film that Jim had told Basie about. It makes no sense in reality for a car to be crashed through flaming boards; this is just one of many examples where audiences should understand that we are seeing things through the eye of an unreliable narrator. Another example: Jim admits later that he has even forgotten what his parents look like. If the early scene of being tucked into bed looks too idealized to be true, it is meant to be. The image is a film recreation of an actual painting by Norman Rockwell (the epitome of idealized parents and childhood) and one should notice that there is a weird flutter in that scene, as if some frames had been pulled from the film but the gap "dissolved" over through editing. This is deliberate, since that very image is then carried by Jim in his briefcase, pinned on his dorm walls, etc.
3. The themes: This film is ultimately a sophisticated representation of authentic religiosity (in the sense of a spiritual quest). (Authentic in the sense of innate, rather than claiming that religiosity is the sole domain of one specific faith or that it is wrapped up in specific rituals and doctrine, which is untrue since such ideas and urges pre-date every specific religion that is known today, and are felt across all denominations and religions) the film deals with the subject through symbolism and metaphor. We are awakened to the theme from the very outset, since Jim's character is first seen in church, singing (bored), in a representation of the specific trappings of religion, as a child, before they have gained any true meaning for him. (That they later do is made evident by his recurrent singing in which what was first a mere ritual is gradually imbued with added meaning until it effectively encompasses his entire existence, as at the end even his parents mean very little to him). Jim feels a compulsion, which in his youth is seen as an obsession with flying, that is quickly connected to a spiritual curiosity with the line "If God is above us, does it mean up, like flying?" His mother "I don't know about God" and neither does Jim at first but this is where he starts to learn. Again and again the airplanes are given emotional significance far beyond anything that would be justifiable if it were taken literally. Jim idolizes those who have the chance to fly, yearns to join with the vehicle that allows flight, is enraptured by the waving pilot, refers to the taste of the plane in his mouth, the bones in the aircraft runway, etc. All of this must be viewed in terms of symbolism and metaphor! Only then does the film's meaning, and the emotions of the character's development, become clear.
4. The development: Although in literal terms, Jim is a boy who ages only a handful of years, his character metaphorically represents an archetype of a spiritual seeker, and it appears to me that great care has been taken so that his character during these few years actually represents each phase of a human life, from childhood to death. The busy active adult years start at the film's half-way point as represented by Jim's busy-sequence in the camp and his competitive, dog-eat-dog activities, his elevation of the importance of conformity and material gain, social climbing, etc. A married phase is added metaphorically through the Mrs. Victor character (explaning fully the sensual way that so many of their shots have been set up, including the voyeuristic scene, the kiss effect of Mrs. Victor taking Jim's suitcase, the handling of their characters during the march, after she asks "Jim, where's Mr. Victor?" and the way she drinks the water from his hands - she is effectively treated as his metaphorical wife whom he sees die once they are sufficiently aged, and Jim's own senescence comes with a long sequence of total disenchantment with the world (a long and moving sequence of sad events during the end of the film), a transcendent breakthrough; (the idea of his death is made explicit by the coffin-like suitcase, but the stadium itself is filmed as if they'd passed through a gateway to the beyond) as he returns to the arms of his creator/mother at the end with ever-so-slowly closing eyes before the funeral like waters shot [the symbolism of which had been set up in the film's very first shot])
4. Jim proceeds to become disillusioned by every aspect of material and human culture that he had started with, rejecting each element sequentially over the last half-hour of the film until the only thing that remains is his own self, and the solitary metaphorical journey that he'd felt compelled to undertake from the outset. Basie and the militaristic delusions are rejected (along with the discarded dogtags necklace), those he valued all die or disappear (or, as with the parents, have lost their meaning, notice that one of the few things he retains is a gift from the doctor - the conjugation of the Latin verb for "love" which he recites like a mantra), all his possessions disappear, and he wanders as if through a desert before receiving a manna-like gift from above, in the form of parachuted war rations (note the ecstatic reaction and surreal presentation at that point) that leads to a personal ecstatic rapture unexplainable to other persons because none of it comes from a social/material origin - those were merely forms through which his understanding could grow and through which it could find expression.

This film is a masterpiece; the screenplay is a brilliantly rich work, and the film offers such metaphorical richness that I have gotten new things out of it after more than a dozen viewings. Extensive details and subtleties await the scrutiny and analysis of serious and educated viewers. I have simply given an overview here to guide others.

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