Empire of the Sun

Parker 2022-04-22 07:01:24

The Empire of the Sun, also known as the Empire of Japan. For a long time after Japan invaded China, Shanghai seemed to be detached from the war, and foreigners living in the Shanghai Concession were also immersed in this paradise. When the Pacific War broke out, Japan fully occupied Shanghai, the concession was occupied by Japan, and the property of foreigners was also occupied by the Japanese. A group of foreigners who did not have time to escape from Shanghai were deported to a concentration camp on the outskirts of Suzhou.

In the concentration camp, we can see a small Western society that has broken away from the war, and teenagers grow up in such an environment. Jamie is a son of a wealthy man who advocates force, loves airplanes, and is arrogant. After living in a concentration camp, he grew into a man with slack eyes and a loss of faith. At the beginning, I thought the male protagonist was very familiar, but later I found out that it was the teenage version of Christian Bale, but it was a little more youthful.

Advocating for force, Jamie easily surrendered, and he could easily show respect to the Japanese soldiers. We will not criticize an ignorant teenager for his actions, but force is not the only advantage to victory.

The film does not have too many profound meanings (at least I can't understand it), and it is more about describing the cruelty of war and the growth of human nature from the perspective of a teenager. The film does not have too much political inclination to the Sino-Japanese War and World War II, but only describes the story of an era in an objective area.

The film is great, the music is great, Shanghai is beautiful, and the fate of the characters before and after I am also shocked!

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Extended Reading

Empire of the Sun quotes

  • [first lines]

    Narrator: [title card] In 1941 China and Japan had been in a state of undeclared war for four years. A Japanese army of occupation was in control of much of the countryside and many towns and cities. In Shanghai thousands of Westerners, protected by the diplomatic security of the International Settlement, continued to live as they had lived since the British came here in the 19th century and built in the image of their own country... built banking houses, hotels, offices, churches and homes that might have been uprooted from Liverpool or Surrey. Now their time was running out. Outside Shanghai the Japanese dug in and waited... for Pearl Harbor.

  • Basie: Don't let me down kid you're an American now.

    Jim: [in a Brooklyn accent] Hey how'ya doin' Frank?