Subarashii eiga, Spielberg san (Splendid movie)

Rating: 10/10 (25 July 2007)

This is the reason I go to see the majority of Christian Bale films whatever the subject matter. As a young man who lived in Japan, studied the language, the people, the culture, later returned to the Far East on business trips to Manchuria and Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Osaka, I can only marvel at what Director Spielberg has achieved here with a young actor worthy of Best Performance from a Juvenile Actor 1987. The making of the movie with author J.G.Ballard is also very interesting, with wonderful rapport between Director and a 13 yr old actor Christian Bale. I am waiting for Spielberg to do The Fall of Singapore in 1942, the British guns pointing out to sea expecting a naval attack, whereas the 90,000 Japanese troops cycled down the Malay Peninsula to surround 130,000 British, Australian, Canadian and Indian troops. In the Malayan jungle the tires burst on the bicycles, the Japanese rode on with just the steel rims. This sound to the British indicated the Japanese were travelling with light tanks and the British withdrew. Yamashita wanted a simple yes or no, and Percival surrendered to a smaller force. There is so much more in the history of the Pacific War for Spielberg to cover and uncover. Anway, Empire of the Sun is a great movie, meticulous in its detail and Shanghai crowd scenes, the survival of a boy in a prison camp, sad, heartbreaking, and moving the viewer to tears From Malcolm in Toronto 25th July 2007