Ann Padgett

Long ago, I watched a b & w news reel of the actual bombing of Shanghai. The image of a lost baby child sitting in the middle of a road, burned, dirty and screaming as people ran around and buildings fell, is still burned into my memory and heart. I finally watched this WWII movie on April 18, 2020, in the middle (or hopefully nearer the end) of a pandemic. The movie, Empire of the Sun was, quite simply, brilliant. I would have attempted to explain some reasons why, but I first read only one review on the movie before doing so. The review Miriam Stone wrote about one year ago stated some of the best reasons for why it is a remarkable movie, exactly as I would like to have done. But, she wrote her review better. Perhaps I should add, though, that every aspect of the entire production was superb. For example, literally all members of the huge, diverse cast, led by a star in the making, young Christian Bale, were each incredible! The story itself, an obvious amalgamation of many true, mostly tragic stories, melded truths and fictions poetically, visually, symbolically, musically, even silently at times. I could go on, but for the rest, please read what Miriam Stone said/wrote on this site about the movie. While other critics did not totally agree on this count, I say Stephen Spielberg hit another home run and this movie has legs.