Empire of The Sun

Steven Spielberg, who used to be famous for being a producer of family films, wedded J.G. Ballard, a controversial author of nightmarish social horror books. Their marriage may have seemed out-of-no-where at first. However, by reforming the semi-autobiographical war novel, Empire of the Sun, into a gloomy tale the director has risen to his wife’s level in terms of mature themes. Spielberg has created one of his most mature and poignant masterpieces of that time period.

Empire of The Sun is about World War II, as seen through the lens of a restless kid: Jamie (by Christian Bale, at the tender age of 13 delivering one of his finest performances). Jaime was cruelly ripped from his English bubble when Japanese soldiers captured his Shanghai house and imprisoned him. For normal children, playgrounds are fun and thrilling. For Jaimie, playgrounds are warfare and blood. In the absence of judgmental parents and teachers, jail is a safe haven for the creative young child. He sneaked onto the adjacent Japanese airport as if it was a game of hide - and - seek, while nuclear bombs were exploding everywhere and people kept dying around him.

It is an emotional film. And Spielberg, for the first time in a very long time, did not force a happy ending on his audience. Rather, he opted to conclude the story on an uncertain note: is Jamie rescued, or is he permanently lost?

Release year: 1987

IMDB score: 7.7/10

Metascore: 62/100