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.McBride 1997, p. 391. 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".Forsberg, Myra. "Spielberg at 40: The Man and the Child" . The New York Times, October 1, 2008. Retrieved: September 17, 2008. 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.
Plot
In the winter of 1941, amid Japan's invasion of China during World War II, Jamie Graham is a British upper class schoolboy enjoying a privileged life in the Shanghai International Settlement. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan begins occupying the settlement. As the Graham family evacuate the city, Jamie is separated from his parents and makes his way back to their house, assuming they will return. After a length of time alone and having eaten the remaining food, he ventures back into the city.
Hungry, Jamie tries surrendering to Japanese soldiers, who ignore him. After being chased by a street urchin, he is taken in by two American expatriates and hustlers, Basie and Frank. Basie decides he should be called "Jim". Unable to sell Jim, they intend to abandon him in the streets, but he offers to lead them to his neighborhood to loot the empty houses there. He is surprised to see lights on in his family home and thinks his parents have returned, only to discover that the house is occupied by Japanese troops. The trio are taken prisoner, transported to the Lunghua Civilian Assembly Centre in Shanghai for processing, and sent to an internment camp in Suzhou.
In mid 1945, near the end of the Pacific War and World War II, and despite the terror and poor living conditions of the camp, Jim survives by establishing a trading network, which even involves Sergeant Nagata, the camp's commander. Dr. Rawlins, the camp's British doctor, becomes a father figure and teacher to Jim. One night after a bombing raid, Nagata orders the destruction of the prisoners' infirmary as a reprisal but stops when Jim begs forgiveness. Through the barbed wire fencing, Jim befriends a teenage Japanese trainee pilot.
Jim attempts to prevent being discovered by a Japanese guard by crawling through reeds and mud while staying low to evade him. Basie alongside many other Western prisoners observe from inside a nearby building, as the other prisoners make bets with Basie against Jim's chances of survival, while Basie alone bets on his success. The trainee observes, and succeeds in leading the guard away from Jim by yelling out to misguide him. Nagata enters the barracks, discovering disorder and theft in Basie's corner; Jim instructs Basie to beg for forgiveness, which he attempts but is unsuccessful and subsequently assaulted by Nagata. While recovering, Basie bonds closer with Jim, telling him of the dangers that exist where they are.
One morning, the base is attacked by American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft. Jim is overjoyed and climbs the ruins of a nearby pagoda to better watch the action. Rawlins chases him up the pagoda to save him, whereupon Jim breaks down in tears, saying he cannot remember what his parents look like. As a result of the attack, the Japanese evacuate the camp. As they leave, Jim's trainee pilot friend goes through the ritual kamikaze preparation and attempts to take off in a Japanese attack plane, but is devastated when the engine sputters and dies.
The camp prisoners march through the wilderness, where many die from fatigue, starvation, and disease. Jim stops by Basie's barracks, learning from Frank that he and Dainty have already departed, leaving him and Jim behind without a goodbye. Arriving at the Nantao Stadium near Nantong, where many of the Shanghai inhabitants' possessions have been stored by the Japanese, Jim recognizes his parents' Packard car. He spends the night there with Mrs. Victor, a fellow prisoner who looked after him at the Suzhou camp, who dies shortly thereafter, and witnesses flashes from the atomic bombing of Nagasaki hundreds of miles away.
Jim wanders back to the Suzhou camp. Along the way, he hears news of Japan's surrender and the war's end. He is reunited with the now-disillusioned Japanese teenage pilot, who remembers Jim and offers him a mango, drawing his guntō to cut it. Basie appears with a group of armed Americans to loot the Red Cross containers being airdropped over the area. One of the Americans, thinking Jim is in danger, shoots and kills the Japanese pilot. Basie offers to have Jim come along with them, but he chooses to stay behind. He is later found by American soldiers and placed in a Red Cross shelter, where he is reunited with his parents, though, it seems he does not entirely recognize them.
Cast
Author J. G. Ballard makes a cameo appearance as a house party guest.
Production Development
Warner Bros. Pictures purchased the film rights, intending Harold Becker to direct and Robert Shapiro to produce. Tom Stoppard wrote the first draft of the screenplay, on which Ballard briefly collaborated. Becker dropped out, and David Lean came to direct with Steven Spielberg as producer. Lean explained, "I worked on it for about a year and in the end I gave it up because I thought it was too similar to a diary. It was well-written and interesting, but I gave it to Steve."McBride 1997, p. 392. Spielberg felt "from the moment I read J. G. Ballard's novel I secretly wanted to direct myself." Spielberg found the project to be very personal. As a child, his favourite film was Lean's The Bridge on the River Kwai, which similarly takes place in a Japanese prisoner of war camp. Spielberg's fascination with World War II and the aircraft of that era was stimulated by his father's stories of his experience as a radio operator on North American B-25 Mitchell bombers in the China-Burma Theater. Spielberg hired Menno Meyjes to do an uncredited re-write before Stoppard was brought back to write the shooting script.
Casting J.G. Ballard felt Bale had a physical resemblance to himself at the same age.Sheen, Martin (narrator), Steven Spielberg, J.G. Ballard, and Christian Bale. The China Odyssey: Empire of the Sun American Broadcasting Company, 1987. The actor was 12 years old when he was cast. Amy Irving, Bale's co-star in the television movie Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna, recommended Bale to her then-husband, Steven Spielberg, for the role. More than 4,000 child actors auditioned.Wills, Dominic. "Christian Bale Biography" . Tiscali. Retrieved: September 16, 2008. Jim's singing voice was provided by English performer James Rainbird.Bullock, Paul. "Spielberg Questions #4: Did Christian Bale sing in Empire of the Sun?" . From Director Steven Spielberg. Retrieved: March 5th 2016.
Filming Empire of the Sun was filmed at Elstree Studios in the United Kingdom, and on location in Shanghai and Spain. Principal photography began on 1 March 1987, and lasted for 16 weeks. The filmmakers searched across Asia in an attempt to find locations that resembled 1941 Shanghai. They entered negotiations with Shanghai Film Studios and China Film Co-Production Corporation in 1985. After a year of negotiations, permission was granted for a three-week shoot in early March 1987. It was the first American film shot in Shanghai since the 1940s. The Chinese authorities allowed the crew to alter signs to traditional Chinese characters, as well as closing down city blocks for filming. Over 5,000 local extras were used, some old enough to remember the Japanese occupation of Shanghai 40 years earlier. Members of the People's Liberation Army played Japanese soldiers. Other locations included Trebujena in Andalusia, Knutsford in Cheshire and Sunningdale in Berkshire.Walker 1988, p. 49. Lean often visited the set during the England shoot.McBride 1997, pp. 394–398.
Spielberg attempted to portray the era accurately, using period vehicles and aircraft. Four Harvard SNJ aircraft were lightly modified in France to resemble Mitsubishi A6M Zero aircraft. Two additional non-flying replicas were used. Three restored P-51D Mustangs, two from 'The Fighter Collection' of England, and one from the 'Old Flying Machine Company', were flown in the film. These P-51s were flown by Ray Hanna (who was featured in the film flying at low-level past the child star with the canopy back, waving), his son Mark and "Hoof" Proudfoot and took over 10 days of filming to complete due to the complexity of the planned aerial sequences, which included the P-51s actually dropping plaster-filled replica 500 lb bombs at low level, with simulated bomb blasts. A number of large scale remote control flying models were also used, including an 18-foot wingspan B-29, but Spielberg felt the results were disappointing, so he extended the film contract with the full-size examples and pilots on set in Trebujena, Spain.
Spielberg had wanted to film in Super Panavision 70 but did not want to work with the old camera equipment that was only available at the time.
Special effects Industrial Light & Magic designed the visual effects sequences with some computer-generated imagery also used for the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. Norman Reynolds was hired as the production designer while Vic Armstrong served as the stunt co-ordinator.Walker 1988, pp. 63–65.
Reception Empire of the Sun was given a limited release on 11 December 1987 before being widely released on Christmas Day, 1987. The film earned $22.24 million in North America," Empire of the Sun" . Box Office Mojo (Amazon.com). Retrieved: September 16, 2008. and $44.46 million in other countries, accumulating a worldwide total of $66.7 million, earning more than its budget but still considered a box office disappointment by Spielberg.
Critical response
Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 75% based on reviews from 67 critics. The site's critical consensus reads, "One of Steven Spielberg's most ambitious efforts of the 1980s, Empire of the Sun remains an under-rated gem in the director's distinguished filmography." Metacritic calculated an average score of 62 out of 100 based on 22 reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.