Bale Gives One of the Greatest Child Performances

Rating: 9/10 (27 February 2008)

I didn't see this film in theaters when it came out in '87-88. I saw it on video soon after and immediately regretted passing it up on the big screen. It is a beautifully shot, evocative war film that portrays a WWII story with which most are not familiar. We don't often think of civilians caught in colonial lands when we recount WWII experiences, and this film manages to convey that story and combine it with a coming of age journey for a privileged young British boy separated from his parents in the chaos as Shanghai (I think--it could be another Chinese city)fell to the Japanese.
Christian Bale is having a fine career as an actor, but from the first time I saw this film I knew two things: Bale's turn in this movie may be the best by a child, ever, and, second, I was instantly an admirer, and knew his would be a career to watch. His transformation from pampered brat to wily survivor is utterly convincing, and often heartbreaking as he confronts the challenges of early adolescence w/out his parents, and in so desolate a place and time. His surrounding cast is also excellent; John Malkovich gives one of his best performances, and the British camp inmates are, as the Brits so often are, superb in their craft.
The storytelling is also masterful, managing to imbue the story w/ enough humorous relief to keep it from swamping itself in the tragedy of its setting. At times visually stunning, it contains scenes w/ Spielberg at his best, such as the slo-mo fly-by of the American pilot, waving at eye level to Bale standing on the roof of one of the camp's buildings, or the horizon-line night shot of the bombing of faraway docks.
I have been espousing the virtues of this film for close to 20 years, and I still don't think I can name 10 people I know who've seen it. It is a treasure of American Cinema, in my opinion, and I hope in some way Bale's superstar success with the Batman franchise may re-awaken film lovers to this title, and introduce it to a new generation.