Bright Sun

I've seen quite a lot of Steven Spielberg's movies, but let's face it -- the man has had a long career and made a ton of movies. I doubt many people have seen them all. One that had slipped through the cracks for me was 1987's Empire of the Sun, one of his earlier forays into the "epic war story." This tale follows a British boy living in Shanghai in World War II, who is separated from his parents when the Japanese occupy the city. The movie follows his life throughout the remainder of the war.

Notably, this was the feature film debut of Christian Bale, at age 13. And he gives a really fantastic performance. It's a bit strange to watch, because while it is completely credible at all times, and his character (Jim) is full of enthusiasm and life, you can still get a taste of how deathly serious Bale the actor was even at this young age. Oh, it's not that you could imagine this young teen cussing out people on set between takes; but it does feel like a very meticulously crafted performance, with an attention to detail that is just unusual for a child actor.

Of course, since no one knew who Bale was at the time, top billing goes to other stars in the film, including John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson, and Joe Pantoliano. (Though also appearing before anyone knew who he was is Ben Stiller, as a minor character.) Malkovich is especially good as a cagey survivalist always working an angle, developing relationships purely for their use to him. The story isn't really focused on any of the adults, however, so each only gets a few moments to really show their stuff.

There's an impressive sweep and scope to the way Spielberg directed this movie. There are a number of crazy-huge crowd shots in the movie -- and this being before the time when CG mobs were a render farm away, it gives you pause to think about the monumental task of actually gathering it all to actually film for real. At the same time, he never lets the grandeur take importance away from the individual; the movie is always locked squarely on this young boy and makes you invest in his struggles.

It's a fairly strong script from playwright/screenwriter Tom Stoppard (which he adapted from a novel). There's clever layering in of repeating themes, some interesting side characters, and some moments of brushing against actual history.

But the movie does run two-and-a-half hours, and it doesn't quite keep the pace up for that entire length. The movie never lags for too long at one time, but in a few places scattered throughout, I did find myself wishing to move on to the next "chapter" a bit faster.

One can suppose, though, that this movie was some sort of foundation on which Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List would later be built. You can even see the hints of that here and there. It's still a strong movie, even if Spielberg would later make stronger. I give it a B-.