Review of Empire of the Sun (1987) by Willma A — 23 Apr 2011

Brought up as the son of a British businessmen living in 1930s China, young Jim Graham (Christian Bale) has never known any but a privileged life. He dreams of flying and is tirelessly curious about the conflict growing up around his sheltered life, and understands more about it than a typical little boy ought to. Separated from his parents when the Japanese invade, he returns home alone and waits out the days as his food and water run out. He ventures out into the chaos of the streets and is quickly picked up by American smugglers Frank (Joe Pantogliano) and Basie (John Malkovich). He takes them back to his house to help them loot it, only to find it occupied by Japanese troops, who take them all to a POW camp, where they wait out the rest of the war, running quite a prison bartering business in the meantime. He is looked after by Mrs Victor (Miranda Richardson) and a piecemeal education in Latin is provided by the world-weary doctor in the camp (Nigel Havers), while survival skills continue to come from Basie and his "university of life". Jim uses his youth and seeming innocence to try to protect first the doctor and then Basie from the camp's Japanese commanders. He is young enough to know only survival, not sides, and he admires the Japanese and American pilots equally. As the war winds down and the prison camp is disbanded, Jim escapes and is again left on his own, where he witnesses from afar the explosion of the atom bomb. Soon enough the war ends and Jim is reunited with his parents, who have waited out the war in luxury and barely recognize their half-starved, war-hardened son.

It is almost eerie watching the young Christian Bale with his exuberant raw talent, knowing the career (and personal mishaps) that were to come after. Spielberg crafts a story that is both bleak and filled with hope, with people worth admiration on both sides of the conflict, and as its central figure a boy who does not follow right and wrong but always does things his own way. The running time is long and the pacing a bit slow, but certainly minor faults overall. It certainly has a worthy story, with Tom Stoppard shaping J.G. Ballard's novel. John Williams' score is a mix of English choirboy and Eastern folk song. I was also amused to see a young Ben Stiller among the American POWs.

Overall, an unusual take on the prototypical World War II film, from the viewpoint of a young English boy in a prison camp with a gift for survival, enhanced by excellent writing, direction, and acting.