Empire of the Sun (1987)

Waste of time

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

This a a story of loss. Loss of empire, both British and Japanese and of innocence, of the character played by a young Christian Bale, who turns in a superbly nuanced performance, uncommon amongst thirteen year old actors. Born of empire but not of England we see the main protagonist, Jim played by Bale admire, what is the Japanese war machine, mostly their airforce. This does make one feel somewhat uncomfortable but due to the complete lack of British or any other allied military power in the region, it is the only military role model he has. Perhaps this underlines, that we are products of our immediate experience and not some codified ideal written in tablets of stone. The film is long at two and a half hours; though directed by Spielberg, I doubt very much that even he, would get away with that today and it would probably benefit from some judicious editing as many of the latter scenes add little value to the message of this film. Seeing this film at the cinema, thirty years ago as a callow youth, I would have been surprised that the young actor Bale, would become an international super star but having seen it for the first time since, tonight; I wonder with such a performance, how could it have been otherwise.

I give this film a 10 out of 10 because I think it is a great movie. With that said, I find every character in the movie a total jerk. The main kid is a royal pain in the butt. He is a stuck-up brat with a wise guy answer for every question. The Chinese are presented as butt-kissers, beggars, and crooks. The Japanese military are sadists, psycho killers, and heartless butchers. The Americans are shown as an array of criminals, gamblers, backstabbers, cut-throats and heartless thugs. I really couldn't relate much to any of them. Only at the end did I find my emotions ; in the last few minutes. Maybe during times of war people act just like the characters in this film. Human emotions, feelings, compassion, and understanding are lacking in this movie. Then, again, it is lacking in the world we live in. Still, great acting makes Empire of the Sun a ten.

A tough film about the cruelty of war and the death of innocence, "Empire Of The Sun" seems dedicated to a single point, that Stephen Spielberg can make a serious film. Unfortunately, "serious" is not the same as "good."It's December, 1941. Young Jamie Graham enjoys a life of privilege in western-controlled Shanghai, China. Those good times are about to end, thanks to the very same Japanese war machine Jamie idolizes. After the tanks roll in, he is separated from his parents and forced to fend for his own in a bleak landscape.Based on the real-life experiences of author J. G. Ballard, "Empire Of The Sun" is a story about human suffering above all. Another review here, more positive, describes it as "a small story told on a vast canvas," and that captures it for me, too. It's a painterly film, with vivid imagery abounding. In that way, Spielberg often channels the director originally slated to make this, David Lean. That said, I found myself thoroughly alienated from the people and situations involved.Christian Bale is a stunning actor, able at 12 to deliver the kind of performance as Jamie that raps you on the head like a two-by-four. But he's a handful. Either he's talking a mile a minute or staring off into space in some kind of feral transport. He's also really obnoxious and unlikable. This is noticed by some of the other characters, too."You're starting to get on my nerves," says an American scrounger he runs into in Shanghai, Frank (Joe Pantoliano)."Very difficult boy," is the verdict of Sgt. Nagata (Masatô Ibu), commander of the internment camp where Jamie is sent.My favorite is the response given by fellow prisoner Mrs. Victor (Miranda Richardson), when Jamie asks why the Japanese closed the schools: "To punish their parents."You have to find things to entertain you watching "Empire Of The Sun," since this is one time Spielberg won't do that for you. Like Jamie, or Jim as it becomes later, this is serious business all the way through, with starvation and disease gnawing at your elbows and hardly any hope in sight. Don't look for a bright light here; it just may be an atomic explosion."First one side feeds you, the other side tries to get you killed, then it's all turned around," Jim is told by his sometime buddy Basie (John Malkovich). "It's all timing."Malkovich is in great form, as movie-star ready as he ever looked on screen, and to solid effect, but I never got his purpose here. He doesn't bond with Jim, nor figure much in the outcome. No one does; Jim just wanders around until the scene shifts, after long languors, to something else. There's a desperate need here to trim, especially in the beginning and the end, but Spielberg and screenwriter Tom Stoppard are more concerned with Big Moment Cinema. We watch Jim serenade kamikaze pilots with a schoolboy chorale, and a minute later he's cheering their deaths at the top of his lungs, chanting "P-51! Cadillac of the skies!" If Spielberg can't engage you, he'll overwhelm you trying.Spielberg has gone on to make other serious movies, and to my mind, done so more successfully even if his tendency to overpush remains. You see moments here that remind you how good he is at scene-setting, but if I said I cared for five straight minutes watching "Empire Of The Sun," I'd be lying.

For a film that brims with such a strong passion for flying, it's quite ironic that Empire of the Sun doesn't even manage to take off at any given point over the course of its runtime. Quite a chore to sit through, this coming-of-age war drama from Steven Spielberg is completely devoid of his usual flair, remains monotonous in tone from start to finish & is pretty much unsure of what it even wants to be.Based on the semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, the story of Empire of the Sun is set during the Second World War in China and tells the story of Jamie; an English kid who after getting separated from his parents during the Japanese invasion of Shanghai ends up in an internment camp where he learns to survive despite the poor conditions & establishes a good living but when the war nears its end, so does his innocence.Directed by Steven Spielberg, the film opens on a fine note by wonderfully introducing all its characters and while there are various indications that the story might pick up anytime now, that moment never really arrives. The whole story feels like a compilation of many episodes sewn together without any clear idea of what Spielberg intends the film to be, plus whatever emotion it was trying to evoke from its audience simply falls flat.Most of the technical aspects are sound in its execution but that part is a default option in a Spielberg feature. Production Design team does a brilliant job in putting up some authentic- looking models & set pieces, Cinematography nicely captures the surroundings & unfolding events but it also lacks the immersive dimension that invites the viewers into the story. And while John Williams delivers an expressive score, it only works in bits n pieces.Editing is disappointing for the story is way longer than it needs to be, isn't properly paced either & its 154 minutes of runtime is severely felt. Also, some sequences that made its way into the final cut should've ended up on the editing room's floor instead. The only thing that saves Empire of the Sun from being a complete disaster is the magnificent performance by Christian Bale in what is his on-screen debut & he's finely supported by John Malkovich.On an overall scale, Empire of the Sun is possibly about the loss of innocence but it travels in so many directions that it ends up halfway on everything it was trying to be. Its motive is unclear whether one approaches it as a coming-of-age story or a war drama. The only good thing about the film is that it brought on screen a promising talent who would later go on to become one of Hollywood's most sought actors but apart from that, Empire of the Sun has nothing interesting to offer.