Empire of the Sun
Tags: psychedelic, depressing, murder

Plot synopsis:
The story begins in 1941, just prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Jamie Graham is a precocious and privileged boy living with his parents in Shanghai. His father is a rich British businessman and the family lives in a mansion on the outskirts of the city and Jamie attends an exclusive prep school. Much has been done to shelter Jamie from the Chinese culture that surrounds him and he is quite spoiled, treating the family's servants with utmost disrespect. Very interested in aviation, Jamie harbors an interest in one day joining the Japanese air force, a dream that his father finds disturbing.The family attends a costume ball thrown by one of the father's business associates, Mr. Maxton. While there, Jamie runs off to fly with his wooden glider. He finds the wrecked fuselage of a fighter plane near an abandoned airfield. While he plays with the controls, his glider slips out of sight behind a mound. He scrambles up the mound and finds an encampment of Japanese soldiers. While he stares at them, his father and Maxton appear and call him down, specifically telling Jamie not to run. As they walk away and the Japanese soldiers return to their camp, Jamie remarks that they "seem to be waiting for something to happen". Maxton suggests that Graham take his family to their apartment in the city and seek an exit from Shanghai, most likely by sea.The family returns to their Shanghai apartment. Early the next morning, Jamie spots a Japanese warship in the harbor communicating with land forces using flashing lights. Jamie begins using his own flashlight from his room when an explosion throws him back from his window. The Japanese move into the city in full force. Jamie's family is able to make it to their limousine but are unable to get very far due to the crowds of people filling the streets. They exit the limo and find themselves crushed and separated among the crowd. Jamie's mother manages to hold on to Jamie when separated from her husband but Jamie lets go of her hand when he drops his toy plane. He sees his mother being helplessly pushed away and she bids him to return to their mansion. Shortly after Jamie witnesses fighting between the Chinese resistance and the Japanese army, seeing a man die in front of him for the first time. The resistance fighters are quickly found and killed.Jamie arrives home to find the house empty. He sees signs of a struggle in his parents bedroom, perhaps indicating that his mother was taken from the house by force. He hears noise downstairs and finds the maid of the house with the other Chinese servant, stealing furniture. When Jamie demands to know what they're doing, the servant, whom Jim had treated badly over the years, calmly walks over and slaps his face and leaves.Jamie stays in the house several months (indicated by the falling level of water in the swimming pool), eating whatever food he can find. When his food and water run out, he rides his bike back to Shanghai to find that the Japanese have long since cemented their control of the city. Jamie tries to surrender to a passing battalion of marching soldiers but they ignore him and his bike is stolen. A homeless Chinese boy notices Jamie and tries to call him over. Jamie refuses and runs through the streets and back alleys, people ignoring his cries for help. The Chinese boy catches and beats him, taking whatever Jamie has on him. Jamie manages to break free and runs into the street, nearly being hit by a truck. The truck's driver, Frank, scares Jamie's tormentor off and takes Jamie with him to an abandoned freighter where Frank's friend, Basie, is cooking rice. Basie deftly searches Jamie for anything of value, taking Jamie's aviator sunglasses and a British crown coin he'd found in the swimming pool. He also gives Jamie a new name, "Jim" and coldly serves Jamie Frank's share of the rice he'd made.The next day Frank and Basie set about trying to "sell" Jim to anyone who needs a manual laborer. When they're unable to sell Jim they decide to leave him to the streets as an orphan. Jim pleads with them to let him stay, even offering them the pickings of rich houses in his old neighborhood outside the city. The three travel to Jim's old house where the lights are on and music, Jim's mother's favorite tune, can be heard. However, the house has been seized by the Japanese, who march out immediately and capture all three. As Jim is held back, Basie is severely beaten.Basie and Jim find themselves in a holding center for foreign prisoners in Shanghai. They spend a significant amount of time there; Jim discovers that the other kids there will steal openly from him to survive, a tactic he also learns from Basie. One day, when the Japanese come to select prisoners for transport to an official camp, Basie is chosen, who boards the truck and ignores Jim's pleas to take him along. Jim begs the driver to take him along and finds that the driver is unsure of the route to the camp. Jim assures the driver that he can guide them to the camp, which is near his parents' old country club. The truck driver throws the annoying Jim into the truck and they leave.The truck arrives at Soochow Creek Interment camp, which is situated right next to an airbase construction site. As the prisoners get off the truck they are ordered to carry white stones up to the spot where a runway is being laid. Jim breaks off from the group, seeing a work area for Japanese Zero airplanes. As he touches one of them, a guard, Nagata, prepares to shoot him. A group of three Japanese pilots approaches and Jamie salutes them; Nagata lowers his rifle when the pilots return Jamie's salute.The story jumps ahead to the Summer of 1945, near the end of the war. Jim has etched out a considerably active life for himself involving an intricate trade network among the other British prisoners and even Nagata himself, who has since been invested as the commanding officer of the camp. While dropping off Nagata's freshly polished boots, Jim slyly steals a bar of soap from the sergeant. Jim's last stop is at the camp infirmary, where he aides the camp doctor, Rawlins, in performing CPR on a dying patient. The woman moves her eyes slightly, seemingly looking at Jim, who now believes he's brought her back to life. Jim appears to lose control and Rawlins is forced to throw Jim off the dead woman. Rawlins has been schooling Jim in Latin and classical poetry, but is unable to teach Jim to recognize when his efforts go too far. Jim leaves the hospital and goes to the American prisoners barracks, delivering the soap to Basie. Basie shows Jim his latest project which involves laying snares in the marsh next to his barracks, hoping to catch pheasants for next Thanksgiving. Basie also makes a deal with Jim: if Jim lays the snares, Basie will let Jim move into the American dorm and take him along if he finds a way to escape the camp.That night the airbase is bombed by American pilots, who drop a bomb very close to the prison camp. In retaliation, Nagata and a few of his officers begin breaking windows in the British and American barracks. When Nagata moves on the infirmary, Rawlins tries to stop him. The sergeant begins to violently and mercilessly beat the doctor. Jim steps in, smashing two windows and begging Nagata in Japanese to cease his punishment, which he does. Rawlins, in gratitude for Jim's actions, gives Jim a pair of two tone golf shoes that belonged to a recently deceased patient.The next day, Jim steals away from the camp to the marsh near the American dorm. Waiting for the tower guard to sit down and leaving his golf spikes behind, he crawls into the marsh to place Basie's snares. However, Basie has another motive for planting the traps: he is using Jim to test the marsh for mines. Moments later, Nagata appears and yells at the guard to take up his post. Nagata finds Jim's shoes and wades into the marsh after him. He is just about to find Jim when a Japanese boy from the airbase calls the sergeant over; the boy has lost his toy glider in the marsh and Nagata retrieves it for him. As the two walk away, the boy salutes Jim, whom he'd seen all along. Jim is given his own space in the American dorm, much to Frank's chagrin, who has to give up some of his own personal space for the young upstart.One day, Basie and another American prisoner, Dainty, are going over potential escape plans using a cork and needle as a compass (provided them by Jim & his pilfering network). Nagata shows up unexpectedly and sees how comfortably Basie has been living. He also finds the bar of soap stolen by Jim and becomes instantly furious, beating Basie severely. Basie leaves Jim in charge of his possessions, knowing he'll be sent to the infirmary. Jim visits him there after seeing through his binoculars that Basie has been given the mosquito net usually reserved for dying patients. (Basie tells him that he merely bribed Dr. Rawlins for it.) During their conversation, Basie suddenly asks Jim why he isn't back at the dorm minding Basie's things; Jim says that the older and larger men in the dorm took everything, Jim being fairly helpless to stop them. Ashamed, Jim leaves the American dorm shortly after Basie returns from the hospital.Now essentially homeless, Jim awakes one morning after falling asleep on the grounds of the camp and sees a kamikaze ritual taking place at the airbase. Moved by the ceremony, he begins to sing "Suo Gân" a Welsh folk song from his childhood days of singing in the choir. As the planes take off one suddenly explodes in midair; a squadron of American P-51 Mustang fighters have arrived and begin to destroy the airbase. Exhilarated, Jim climbs to the top of a bombed out building to watch the battle and sees one of the American pilots waving at him. Jim begins to scream in joy. As the battle continues, Rawlins, fearing for Jim's safety, yells for the boy to come down. Jim doesn't listen and Rawlins climbs after him, finally catching him as the battle winds down. He yells at Jim to return to reality and Jim breaks down, saying he can't recall what his parents looked like. Rawlins carries him down, Jim blankly reciting the poem that Rawlins had been teaching him.The next day, the camp is evacuated by Nagata. The prisoners are told that there will be food waiting for them further inland and a march is quickly started. As they leave, Jim sees the young Japanese boy he'd befriended through the camp wire taking the ceremonial drink of the kamikaze pilots. The boy jumps into his plane but cannot take off because the plane refuses to fire up.The group reaches Nantao Stadium, many miles away, where the Japanese spoils from Shanghai are stored. Among the automobiles there, Jim finds his father's old limo. After being told that there's no food or water there, Jim stays behind with Mrs. Victor, a woman who acted as a guardian to Jim back in Soochow. Jim tells her to act dead so they can stay, however, Mrs. Victor actually dies. As a devastated Jim sits with her body, he sees a gigantic flash of light to the east, one of the atomic bombs dropped by the United States on Japan. Jim believes it is Mrs. Victor's ascending soul, however, he hears a radio broadcast later that reports about the new weapon and the surrender of the Japanese Empire, ending the war.As Jim staggers back to Soochow he notices large canisters falling from the sky on parachutes. They are from the Red Cross and contain food and other supplies. Jim gathers what he can and returns to the prison camp. There he finds the young Japanese boy from the airbase, who is angrily slashing at the marsh with his samurai sword. Recognizing Jim, he stumbles away crying. Jim hears an engine revving and sees a car break through a wall of fire. In the car are Basie and a couple of other men he'd joined up with who are looting the relief containers. The Japanese boy offers Jim a mango and is about to help Jim cut it with his katana when he is shot by one of Basie's companions. As the man rushes over Jim flips him into the marsh and leaps on him, wildly punching him. Basie pulls Jim off, who turns his attention to the Japanese boy. He tries to revive him using CPR but the boy is clearly dead and Basie again pulls Jim off. As he tries to soothe Jim, Jim pulls away, a crazed look in his eye; Jim's experiences during the war of stealing, death and fear have finally pushed him onto the path to adulthood. Basie decides to leave Jim behind, knowing Jim will survive. Jim stays in the camp a bit longer, riding a bike like he did in childhood and laughing. He is found by a U.S. Army unit, to whom he "surrenders".Jim returns to Shanghai and is housed in an orphanage for child war prisoners. The kids are assembled by the nuns for a group of parents who have returned to Shanghai following the war; Jim's parents are among them. They wade through the sea of children, not able to find Jim at first, but spot him after a few moments. Jim, scarred from his experiences and still in shock, doesn't believe his own eyes as he recognizes his mother by her face and hair and eventually collapses in her loving arms.

Review: This film makes use of the talents of Miranda Richardson and gives some early exposure to the likes of John Malkovich and Ben Stiller, but young Christian Bale steals the show.
I had put off watching this until recently, I do not know why, I had not read reviews and for some reason imagined it to be a movie about a young Japanese prince(!!).I was captivated by the performance of Christian Bale as a privileged young boy named Jim Graham, growing up in Shanghai, very far removed from the poverty and despair all around him.
When war breaks out, this changes him forever and hence the story.After some harrowing experiences he winds up in a prisoner of war camp where he befriends some interesting characters and quickly adapts to a life of conniving and subterfuge to survive.The transformation of Jim is beautifully captured, Steven Spielberg is a gifted director of child actors and gets a maximum performance always.I was enthralled from beginning to end, young Jim was forever changed by his experiences and this change is portrayed starkly here when he is finally reunited with his parents.8 out of 10 for equally impressive performances from John Malkovich and Miranda Richardson, but Christian Bale's performance deserved an Oscar..
When you watch this film you'll see it's not as much of a war movie as it is a story of survival and the brutal realities of life when the world has been turned upside down.
John Malkovich and Christian Bale are incredible as usual, but in this film they bring to life a story of a boy who loses everything due to a country trying to conquer everything.
When I first saw the epic film 'Empire Of The Sun' by the inspirational director Steven Spielberg I became emotionally involved in the story and could not help but shed a tear for the truly remarkable piece of cinema.
A true heart throb in the making.As a history lesson Empire give us an insight to the happenings in China in WWII, and the ambitions of the Japanese Empire, which are never touched on in other WWII movies.The most emotional part of the film for me: Jim is looking through the fence at the Japanese airbase, the sun is setting, he is dreaming of flying in those incredible machines, pilots are smartly uniformed and decorated, offices passing drinks to the young pilots, superb music playing, Zeros ready to go, Jim salutes the Japanese heroes as they are flying out.
The only disappointment is John Malkovich but I've never been a fan of his " Stoned Jack Nicolson " type of acting and like I said he does appear in the movie's best scene EMPIRE OF THE SUN has it's moments but that's all they are - moments .
Empire Of The Sun is a really imaginative story of a young boy stuck in World War II China in a truly terrible situation cut off from his parents.
Bale and his parents live in luxury among the millions of Chinese.What one should remember when watching Empire Of The Sun is that since the Opium War of 1841 western powers and Japan joined them took small little nibbles out of China and in fact were granted by the weak Chinese governments special treatment in their quarters.
Empire of the Sun is a fantastic with a very well written and developed storyline and an outstanding and very dramatic cast.Its Steven Spielberg's first serious war film and while it isn't and good as the war related films he's given in more recent years (Schindlers List,Saving Private Ryan,etc.), it still is a great start for a director who has proved he can direct several different types of genres.The film cast is very professional, it's Christian Bale first big movie,he is very young in this movie and inexperienced but that dosen't show in this film,he delivers a very impressive performance,and that also goes for John Malcovich,another amazing actor,this being one if his earliest films.Fans of war films and Steven Spielberg definitely wouldn't want to miss Empire of the Sun. Story of a young boy who is forced to grow up quickly in a Japanese prisoner of war camp during World War 2..
Acting-wise the two main forces in the film, one a young, brilliant-as-a-child actor Christian Bale embodies Jamie/Jim as a kid who does go through a transformation, the typical 'coming-of-age' where he loses more than just his parents in the chaos but part of himself.
The other is John Malkovich, who plays the surrogate/friend during war-time to the boy, a more hard-edged but sharp guy who's out for himself but not completely shut-off from others.And as with any given Spielberg film, at least one or two visuals will strike up as being pretty close to what could be called "pure cinema", where you feel a kind of rush on the back of your neck at what can be done with color, light, composition, people (optional), and music.
Time and again, his camera shows us scenes and shots that aren't actually happening in the 'real' world - Situations are seen as they are perceived or as they have been re-imagined in the memory of the film's twelve-year -old protagonist, Jim Graham (an astonishing Christian Bale).
God taking a photograph: Jim thinks he sees that four years and seemingly several lifetimes later, as a starving, exhausted prisoner witnessing the brilliant light of the atomic bomb.What transpires in between, the sweeping story of Jim's wartime exploits after he is separated from his family, is set forth so spectacularly in Steven Spielberg's ''Empire of the Sun'' that the film seems to speak a language all its own.
Based on J.G. Ballard's autobiography, "Empire of the Sun" portrays spoiled English boy Jim Graham (Christian Bale) getting taken prisoner by the Japanese army in WWII-era Shanghai.
I've watched many Steven Spielberg's Films,and I like his style,appreciate his attitude towards war and human nature,such as Saving Private Ryan,Munich,Schindler's List.But,this film makes me absolutely disappointed.maybe you Americans consider it a classical work,but,you don't know how much pain we Chinese suffer in this war,which you will never understand.I don't know why Spielberg always uglify Chinese in this film.If it is a low taste film directed by a illiterate director,I won't care,and won't write such a comment not in my first language.But it's from Spielberg's hand,who always emphasizes equality and humanity.From the perspective of art,the description of the war between china and japan is too subjective,not objective at all,and leads to the failure.So,Spielberg's ignorance of China history become the biggest stain in this film.Maybe he just know something about Jews,but he know nothing about China..
In 1945, Lucky Strikes were green for the Armed Services ("Lucky Strike Green Has Gone to War.") This small erratum aside this is a wonderful movie, but a trifle long.Christian Bale as a young teenager is marvelous and you can see the makings of the fine actor he has become.The story line is simple and plot not complex.
Where coffins housing the dead line a river during the opening few shots, a small suitcase in possession of the belongings held throughout by that of a certain character is seen gently floating off and away; the image signifying times having moved on, that the 'old' character is gone and a new, more-exposed-to-the-world in ways which would have never normally happened, is here.That character is Jamie Graham, played by Christian Bale; an infant initially living in the Chinese city of Shanghai just prior to Japan's attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbour and as a consequence, the majority of the Pacific's nations official entry into World War Two. He lives an affluent life with his rich parents, a blazer-clad boy singing harmoniously in a church when we first see him and later chauffeured back to a huge manor house in a neighbourhood firmly informing us of how he lives.
Later on, things will appear to aesthetically 'normalise', as inceptions give way to a getting used to this newfound existence, it is through Americans Frank Demarest (Pantoliano) and John Malkovich's Basie; a seaman who lives out of a wrecked freighter in a harbour Jamie finds his feet.When one thinks back to Spielberg's oeuvre, specifically from that of the 1980s, Empire of the Sun is not the film which immediately comes to mind, and that is a shame - although not as much as the fact that the likes of 1984's Temple of Doom might very well do instead.
Watching him 20 years later, it is fascinating to see the mature actor within the child who even at this young age can produce boyish enthusiasm to desperation to exhaustion at the crack of "Action." Some of his best scenes are simply he alone, such as a resourceful kid who seems like a lone post-war survivor when he first misses the round-ups of Europeans.It is probably because we are looking through his innocent eyes that the Japanese are shown far less stereotypically than most such movies, particularly as he establishes a tentative connection with a youthful flier (though through his young confusion distinctions between Chinese and Japanese are unfairly not clear).
Visually arresting from start to finish, given a sumptuous musical score by John Williams and some of the finest cinematography ever seen, it is hard to understand why the film is not as highly acclaimed as it ought to be...nor is it fitting that it was nominated for six Academy Awards but received none.It's a sweeping epic but depends on capturing your interest by giving the main burden to the young Christian Bale who certainly has one of the great child roles of a lifetime as Jim--and becomes the character so completely that his final reunion with his parents brings tears to the eyes.
By that time, the viewer has been through so much with him, watching as he grows from spoiled rich kid to a wily boy who must fend for himself among the wolf-pack of prisoners interred by the Japanese.Basically, it's the real life story of one boy's survival during the outbreak of World War II when he is separated from his British parents during the evacuation of Shanghai.
But among the things that stunned me in this movie is Spielberg realistic and stunning recreation of the great World War. The film is also wonderfully shot in Shanghai, capturing the the feel of being in the People's Republic of China.
In the middle of the confusion of the times during the Japanese invasion, Jim is separated from his parents and is forced to live by his own means in the almost deserted city.Soon enough Jim meats Basey(Malkovich), an American who's mane concern is himself, however, he sees potential in Jim and takes him under his wing.The film is very long but it captures every second of your attention to it, the acting is superb.
I don't know how Spielberg filmed half of this movie, all I can say is "a LOT of time!".Empire of the Sun is a very emotional film, and all aspects of being a prisoner of war are very detailed.
As a pampered British boy named Jim "Jamie" Graham who is separated from his parents following the fall of Shanghai before American involvement in World War II, Bale is simply astounding.
I do like a vast majority of Steven Spielberg's movies, and Empire of the Sun I feel is one of his best, alongside Schindler's List, ET, Jaws, Jurassic Park and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Spielberg's direction is superb, and there is a thoughtful script and very touching story.
Great performance by Christian Bale, he has been selected through 4000 young kids for a reason, too bad the box office didn't do that well as it sure to deserved a better recognition.You can always count on a good Director's vision, Steven Spilberg delivered an epic story that uplifts the sprite.This shows stupid human always used the war to solve their problems, every few generations we have to face to consequence of our mistakes, there is no way out for human mistakes.Human has no intelligent way to show the way of our revolution, other than killed each other for a potato..
Among other highlights of the cast are early performances from Miranda Richardson, playing a very sorrowful Englishwoman who augments as much as she can before the chance of diminishment heightens, Nigel Havers, playing a doctor who amidst all the pressure that keeps him on edge manages to keep Bale's rampagingly passionate youngster down to earth, Joe Pantoliano, even this early in his career playing life's punching bag in the form of a nagging sidekick, and Ben Stiller, the film's biggest surprise, in a bit part among many other no-names in the group of American boys at Malkovich's feet.Empire of the Sun tells a dynamic, lavish, and heartfelt story of a young English boy, adventurous and wide-eyed as can be, obsessively fascinated by airplanes, belonging to a rich family in Shanghai during WWII who is hit like a ton of bricks by the Japanese occupation.
The most impressive thing about the film is its portrayal of this young boy's alien perspective of all that suddenly happens and his furiously fast learning of his situation, adapting to all that devastates his life.Those who feel that slight twinge of bias against Steven Spielberg for his mind-blowing and never-ending box office success, you are really missing out on the brilliant work of one of those filmmakers who is truly a master at what a movie, like a novel, is supposed to do, which is suck you into every sensory element of the world of its characters..
This movie shows that no one is winners in war and just how hard it would have been for a child to survive.The madness of war was creeping in and the emotions of each character was all there to be seen and it didn't treat the audience like idiots (perhaps it should have treated them simple as for some people just don't get his love for Zeros) If I could get my kids to watch it and really see it for what it is, perhaps they might learn something.I didn't see racism and I saw the good and the bad of all humans ....
Steven Spielberg has always demonstrated a gift for bringing that child-like sense of wonder and working with young actors, most notably in writing "The Goonies" and directing "E.T." In "Empire of the Sun," he shows us war-torn China and Japan through the eyes of a 12-year-old Christian Bale.
Considering the war films he's know for, kudos to Spielberg for focusing this story on one fraction of WWII and the survival of a young boy separated from his parents who is forced to lose his innocence in the throws of war.Jamie (Bale), lives in a lovely home with servants and his parents in Shanghai.
When the Japanese invade in December of '41, Jamie gets separated in the streets from his parents and begins a brutal journey that ultimately brings him to Soo Chow internment camp where he's known as Jim. He carves a new life for himself as a crafty and inspiring young man.Tom Stoppard, who had just received an Oscar nomination for Terry Gilliam's "Brazil," doesn't provide an eventful script, but does create a compelling portrait of Jamie/Jim. His journey could rank as one of the most complete and intriguing child story lines in film history.
This character arch is the winning feature of "Empire of the Sun." Little else nominates it for discussion among all-time great war films, but the perspective of a boy changes everything for the better.~Steven CVisit my site at http://moviemusereviews.com.
I first watched 'Empire of the Sun' fairly recently and I'm appalled with myself for never watching such a masterpiece earlier.Empire of the Sun is a film adaption of the popular autobiography by JG Ballard which follows the life of a young boy, Jim (played by Christian Bale) where he embarks on an unforgettable and life-changing adventure when Shanghai is invaded by Japanese troops during World War 2.Jim is separated from his parents and is forced to fend for himself on the streets of Shanghai.
He eventually befriends an American called Basie (John Malkovich) and together they survive the Japanese internment camps run by the Japs.A spectacular performance by a young Bale and a realistic representation of the War marks this film one of the greatest of our generation..
G. Ballard's autobiographical novel 'The Empire of the Sun' which tells the story of a boy, James Graham (Christian Bale, very young and very talented), whose privileged life is upturned by the Japanese invasion of Shanghai, December 8, 1941.
With excellent direction from Spielberg, a very moving score from John Williams, and an unforgettable performance from the very young Christian Bale, Empire of the Sun makes for one of Spielberg's best.
When the war finally draws to an end with Japan's defeat, Jim is left to find his parents, no longer the little boy he was when they were first separated.Welsh-born Christian Bale was just absolutely first class as young Jim. He would only have been twelve or so when filming but his performance proved there are some child actors who can show incredible talent that out-shines adult counterparts and he brings innocence, hope and spirit to his character.
I've never seen such a brilliant child performance as his acting here, as it is essentially a film about his character-Jim. A young boy who is separated form his parents during the Japanese invasion of China during the second world war.
Young Christian Bale offered a powerful performance in this drama about a young boy separated from his family after the Japanese occupation of Shanghai and sent to an internment camp, where he has to find a way to survive.Bale's portrayal of Jamie (or Jim) was the highlight of this movie.
It's 1987: Christian Bale meets Steven Spielberg in this "coming of age" tale of a young boy, Jim, who is separated from his parents in the course of the Japanese occupation of China, that ended with the Hiroshima-Nagasaki bombings.