Empire of the Sun: A review

FYI - this was Christian Bale's first major role on film! He was the highlight, for sure! Empire of the Sun (1987) (Actors Study) Starring: Christian Bale, John Malkovich, Joe Pantoliano, Ben Stiller, and some others. This film is directed by Stephen Speilberg, and has his style. It is a scrolling giant of a film. It seems like a mural painting of epic size, and a romanticized image of WWII. Yes, it displays grit, destruction and huge sacrifice, but it’s almost idealized. I don’t know if I agree with that sentiment. War is very hard. Like another well known film of Speilberg’s focusing on boyhood (ET), this focused on the experiences of an upper crust British boy during the war. Jaime, played by Christian Bale as a kid, is a boy who wants for nothing while living in a mansion near Shanghai, China. In this era, wealthy British colonized parts of China, building towns similar to ones in England… making themselves at home. Jaime’s family has all the luxuries of England along with plenty of fine art from China. They even have their own British boys school. Jaime lives with his parents and they employ Chinese servants. He is smart, philosophical, but also very spoiled. However, he notices an old Chinese man who is panhandling, and often stares at the man. Perhaps he is questioning the inequalities of life, why he has so much, and the old man has nothing. He asks his father about this, saying they are lucky, but the father brushes it off saying they are ‘lucky’ because he works hard. Ironically, his father is placing a silver coin down on their sprawling yard to play golf beside their pool when he explains he works hard. Yes he may work hard, but the Chinese people have a disadvantage, and this family lives oblivious to that. Things change drastically when Japanese troops invade Shanghai and the surrounding areas. There is a juxtaposition of the wealthy and the poor when Jaime and his family are off to a costume party. In their fancy car with Chinese chauffeur, they pass by throngs of Chinese people who are running the opposite way in fear. They are running away from the Japanese invasion. The family still attends the party. Jaime has an obsession with planes, and he sees a downed plane that has been stuck in the mud for a while. When playing in it, he is confronted head on by Japanese troops but survives the encounter. The next day the invasion comes to their neighborhood. The family piles into the car again with the chauffeur to leave, but it is too late. They end up in the crowds. They run together, but Jaime drops his toy plane which he goes back for and he is separated. This is the most memorable scene I think, with the boy shouting on the top of a box looking for his mother. But it illustrates how Jaime is so oblivious of what necessities are, because he goes for a plane over being with his mother. It is a mistake, and a lack of understanding on his part, but it costs him. He spends a long time alone in his old home, which has been abandoned and emptied by Japanese troops. That wasn’t that believable to me, because like the pool water disappears and I was like, ‘how long is this kid staying there without supplies?’. There were a few cans of food, but that's it. Eventually he meets up with a guy Frank who takes him to this American who does bartering for a living, or stealing. This American, Basie, feeds the boy and lets them sleep there. Basie is played by John Malkovich. Basie is pretty much a “Fagan”, if you have ever seen “Oliver” or read Oliver Twist. He runs an operation of thieving, or taking stuff from people in the war who already are dead or have been captured. He actually tries to sell Jaime, I think, in one scene -- although Chinese was being spoken so I don’t have a clear idea. Anyway, the boy bonds with this thief and his business partner. Jaime gets his name changed to Jim by the group and, from this point on to me became like “Oliver”, the orphan boy, and Basie was Fagan with a group of thugs. They go back to Jim’s old neighborhood, which Jim calls ‘opulent’. Jim is doing this to keep in good graces with them. However, when they get back they get captured by Japanese, and sent to a concentration camp. Basie and Frank end up in the American wing of the camp, Jim ends up in the British section. Jim learns quickly how to survive, and is hustling for a while… he picked up some bartering skills from his idol Basie. The difference between Basie and Jim is that Jim wants to be a caregiver to everyone. He also learns to help people in the camp’s hospital. In contrast Basie only is out for himself and his needs, and if it helps someone else, then that’s ok. Although Basie does become a protector to the boy. There is a secondary plot where Jim is fascinated with the planes in the hangar next to the camp, but they are Japanese. This almost gets him killed a few times. The planes are Japanese, but he doesn’t see it that way, he just sees planes that he knows everything about. He befriends a teenage boy on the other side of the fence who is Japanese, when the boy loses his toy plane on Jim’s side. They help each other out, and this kinda skews Jim’s loyalties. There is another time when Jim sneaks over to see the planes, almost gets shot by a Japanese soldier, but when he sees the three pilots coming towards him he salutes the pilots out of admiration, it saves his life. This is a cinematic moment because sparks are flying in the background as an engineer is working on the planes, and there is smoke around the boy as he touches the planes. The pilots seem Godlike when Jim salutes them because it is in soft light and silhouette. No denying that this film was created by a master in the art of film. There’s a few notable ways of storytelling like when Jim’s Japanese friend dies towards the end of the film, and Jim tries to save him, but can't. For a flash Jim sees himself as the body, but as little Jaime. This pretty clearly expresses that Jim is mourning the loss of his childhood. But he learned the value of people over things and opulence in the end. Lastly he realizes that Basie is no good for him. Still, this scene kinda bugged me because Jim says over and over “I CAN SAVE EVERYBODY”. It was like 12 times. 1-2 times would have been fine. Although, Christian Bale as a kid actor was phenomenal! He hits all the right beats in his scenes, and takes major risks. He was already a pro at 12 or 13 yrs old. JMal is excellent as always, as the devious Basie, who’s moral compass is a little off but still cares for the kid. Ben Stiller is in it as a tough guy who is part of the American thieves. I am glad I watched it for the good performances, but probably would have enjoyed it more as a shorter version. It was so-so.