Striving to Impress

Rating: Null/10 (7 September 2003)

Spoilers.
Spielberg first met Kubrick in 1979, when he was looking at sound stages in England where he could build sets for Raiders of the Lost Ark.' They were the same sound stages Kubrick was using for his horror film The Shining.' The two men became friends and stayed in contact for the rest of Kubrick's life.
I am personally convinced that Empire of the Sun' was one of Spielberg's attempts to impress his pal, Stanley. I believe this because it is obvious Spielberg had a great deal of admiration and respect for Kubrick, and because this film was one of Spielberg's first serious efforts. It was also shot more brilliantly than any other film he has made. He wanted recognition as an artist and respect as a storyteller of serious subjects. One of the problems with Empire of the Sun' is not that it is an ambitious film, but that it was an ambitious effort.
Visually, this film has as much perfection as any Kubrick film. The craft is superb. The crane shots, camera movement, composition, choice of lenses, editing, Stedicam work, etc, are all extremely well done. If anyone ever needed convincing that Spielberg has talent as a visual film-maker you should forget about his special effects blockbusters, look at Empire of the Sun' instead.
The area where the film most definitely doesn't have perfection is the structure of the story. This film is more episodic than most. The problem is that this only worked for the first half of the film, and the good transitions only had dramatic impact because they relied heavily on music. Jim's loss of childhood innocence is what should have affected us the most. But this theme wasn't explored with the any real depth or intelligence.
Although there were a few problems with structure and character development, I have no doubt that Empire of the Sun' is a film that a lot of people think is very moving. There is one scene in particular that is actually quite touching. It is when Jim is finally reunited with his parents. Even though it is the music that does it, I thought it was an excellent way for the film to end.