Empire of the Sun is a film about a boy who loses everything and finds nothing to replace it. Steven Spielberg directs, and Tom Stoppard writes, adapting J. G. Ballard’s semi-autobiographical novel of the same name. The story follows Jamie “Jim” Graham, played by Christian Bale, a privileged English schoolboy in Shanghai who is separated from his parents during the Japanese invasion and spends years in an internment camp.
The film opens in the winter of 1941, as Japan invades China during World War II. Jamie lives in the Shanghai International Settlement with his wealthy British family. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese begin occupying the settlement. His parents evacuate the city, and Jamie is left behind, assuming they will return. He spends days alone, eating the remaining food, wandering hungry through the streets until he surrenders to Japanese soldiers, who ignore him.
He is then taken in by two American expatriates, Basie and Frank, who decide to call him Jim. They intend to abandon him in the streets, but he offers to lead them to his neighborhood to loot the empty houses. 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 is transported to the Lunghua Civilian Assembly Centre in Shanghai for processing, and sent to an internment camp in Suzhou.
Trailer, via Amblin Entertainment.
Bale’s Performance
Bale was twelve years old when he was cast. He was recommended by Amy Irving, his co-star in the television movie Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna, who recommended him to her then-husband, Steven Spielberg, for the role. More than 4,000 child actors auditioned. Jim’s singing voice was provided by English performer James Rainbird.
Bale’s performance is the film’s engine. He plays Jim as a boy who refuses to lose his spirit, even as the world around him collapses. He is arrogant, selfish, and often cruel, but also curious and adaptable. He trades with the camp’s guards, including Sergeant Nagata, the camp’s commander, and he befriends a teenage Japanese trainee pilot through the barbed wire fencing.
The film asks us to watch a child become hardened without ever losing his humanity. That tension is the whole movie, and Bale carries it for two hours and fifteen minutes.
Stoppard’s Adaptation
Stoppard’s script is faithful to Ballard’s novel, though it compresses the timeline. The film covers the years from the Japanese invasion to the end of the Pacific War, but it telescopes the experience of captivity into a single arc. This compression is a necessary evil. It means the film cannot linger on the daily horrors of camp life the way the book can, but it also means the story moves quickly enough to hold attention.
Spielberg directs with restraint. This is not a film about spectacle. There is no grand set piece, no chase sequence, no dramatic reveal. The film is patient, and it trusts Bale to do the emotional work. The cinematography is beautiful, and the visuals are often stunning, especially in the early scenes of Shanghai. The film was released by Warner Bros. on December 11, 1987.
The Camp Years
In mid 1945, near the end of the Pacific War and World War II, Jim survives by establishing a trading network, which even involves Sergeant Nagata. 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.
These scenes are the heart of the film. They show Jim learning to navigate a world where adults lie, betray, and sometimes die. He learns to trade, to charm, to survive. He also learns to forgive, to the extent that he can forgive a man who represents everything he hates.
The Cameo and the Cast
The film features a cameo from J. G. Ballard, who appears as a house party guest. He also served as a consultant on the film, ensuring that the details of the Shanghai setting and the camp experience were accurate. The rest of the cast is notable. John Malkovich plays Basie, the American hustler who takes Jim in. Miranda Richardson plays Mrs. Victor, a wealthy woman in the camp. Nigel Havers plays Dr. Rawlins, the camp doctor. Joe Pantoliano plays Frank Demarest. Leslie Phillips plays Maxton. Masatô Ibu plays Sergeant Nagata. Emily Richard plays Jim’s Mother. Rupert Frazer plays Jim’s Father. Peter Gale plays Mr. Victor. Takatarô Kataoka plays Kamikaze Boy Pilot. Ben Stiller plays Dainty.
The supporting cast is strong, but they are all playing adults in a story about a boy. That imbalance is a structural problem. The film is at its best when it focuses on Jim and his internal journey. When it shifts to adult politics, it loses some of its power.
The Reception
The film received positive reviews. Critics praised Bale’s performance, the cinematography, the visuals, John Williams’s score, and Spielberg’s direction. The film was not initially a commercial success, earning only $22 million at the US box office. However, it eventually more than recouped its budget through revenues in foreign markets, home video, and television.
That reception history is worth noting. The film was made at a moment when Spielberg was still finding his range as a director. It is his most serious work before the late 1990s, and it shows a filmmaker willing to slow down and look at pain directly. The film is not comfortable, and it does not pretend to be.
What Works
- Bale’s performance anchors the film and makes the boy’s journey believable
- The early Shanghai scenes are visually striking
- The relationship between Jim and Dr. Rawlins is tender and well-played
- The climax involving the infirmary is tense and emotionally effective
What Falls Short
- The compressed timeline leaves little room for camp detail
- Adult characters feel secondary to Jim’s story
- The film’s pacing can drift in the middle section
Empire of the Sun is a flawed but important film. It is a coming-of-age story set against the worst conflict in human history, and it does not flinch from the cruelty of that world. Bale gives a performance that holds the film together, and the technical craft is excellent. But the film is too short to fully explore its subject, and it leans too heavily on a boy’s perspective to fully capture the adult horror of war.
The film is at its best when it is intimate, and at its worst when it tries to be epic. The result is a film that is frequently great and occasionally frustrating.
6 of 10.
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