A dozen years and as many history books later...

Rating: 10/10 (10 July 2007)

I first saw EotS as a child, and was transfixed by the imagery of the film, swept along in Jim's story, and thoroughly entertained. Now, a dozen years and as many history books later, I found (and was indeed interested to note) that this time I engaged more with the adult characters in the story, rather than simply being swept along with Jim, so it was a totally different viewing experience. Understanding vastly more of WWII history now I was also able to put into context the amazing scenes of the Japanese advance into Shanghai, making the sequence all the more powerful and compelling. And I finally understood the significance of the young Japanese pilots and the ceremony...it never occurring to me as a kid they were preparing to go and suicidally smash their planes into American warships. Like the thousands of German youth convinced by their leaders they would one day stand at the forefront of a powerful world empire, these young Japanese men must have felt the crushing weight of the allied forces' advance more that I could ever imagine.
Kudos has got to go to the Production Designer and Cinematographer. The scenes shot in China are magnificent, and the exploding Zero and subsequent scenes of the P51 raid on the camp are some of the finest shots ever committed to film. This is also one of the truly great moments from young Christian Bale, as his character Jim, in a surreal few seconds, suddenly realises who the "good guys" are. Simply outstanding. While some of Bale's role-choices are somewhat questionable, his acting talent is undeniable. The set of the American section of the POW camp was also very well done. You feel like you are there, amongst the bunks and hanging clothes, rowdy Americans...you can almost smell the sweat and sawdust.Likewise with the rest of the film, its atmosphere is absorbing and rich, there are myriad details to this film that ensure its re-play value over and over, there are so many stories behind the characters and events in this film, some you can read in a history book (Japanese invading China mainland, Hiroshima/Nagasaki bombs/British habitation of Shanghai etc) and others that are simply wonders of the imagination as you think about each of the characters (especially Basie and the Doctor, but even down to the servants in Jim's household) and where they came from, how they came to be there at that time in history, and if they survived, where did they go after the events of the film and what did they do? John Williams provides a very rich score, in particular a boys' choir, that enhances the film dramatically. Id even not immediately guess this was a Steven Spielberg film...as there is very little of the "insert emotion here" film-making so prevalent in something like Saving Private Ryan.
This one is going into the top ten. It's taken me about 15 years and I'm only up to naming the first 3 of my all-time-top-ten-see-b4-u-die list...that's how seriously I'm taking it lol. If you haven't seen it, give it a go, if you have, enjoy it again, tonight!