Empire of the Sun (1987)

Directed by

Steven Spielberg

Genre

drama film, war film, coming-of-age film

Country

United Kingdom, United States

Runtime

2h 34m

Rated

PG

Rating

7.5 of 10 from 2,153 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A wealthy British boy named Jim is separated from his parents in Shanghai during World War II and ends up in a Japanese internment camp. He must learn to survive on his own in a harsh and unfamiliar environment.

emotionalpoignantmelancholicintimatevisually stunningsuspensefulbittersweetserious

What happens

Empire of the Sun is a 1987 American war drama film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Tom Stoppard, based on J. G. Ballard's semi-autobiographical 1984 novel of the same name. The film tells the story of Jamie "Jim" Graham (Christian Bale), a young boy who goes from living with his wealthy British family in Shanghai to becoming a prisoner of war in an internment camp operated by the Japanese during World War II. The film also stars John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson, Nigel Havers, Joe Pantoliano, Masatō Ibu, Leslie Phillips, Ben Stiller, and Robert Stephens. Harold Becker and David Lean were originally to direct before Spielberg came on board, initially as a producer for Lean. Spielberg was attracted to directing the film because of a personal connection to Lean's films and World War II topics. He considers it to be his most profound work on "the loss of innocence". Empire of the Sun was released by Warner Bros. on December 11, 1987. The film received positive reviews, with praise towards Bale's performance, the cinematography, the visuals, John Williams's score and Spielberg's direction. However, the film was not initially a commercial success, earning only $22 million at the US box office, although it eventually more than recouped its budget through revenues in foreign markets, home video, and television. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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