Empire of the Sun (1987) on Netflix
In 1941 Shanghai, British schoolboy Jamie Graham is separated from his parents when the Japanese occupy the city. Alone and hungry, he falls in with two American hustlers, Basie and Frank.
- Netflix3.8/5
- IMDb7.7/10144,919 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes77%
Trailer
Plot summary
Jamie Graham lives with his wealthy British family in Shanghai, where he has a privileged upbringing in the International Settlement. In the winter of 1941, Japan's army occupies the settlement, and Jamie is separated from his parents as the family tries to leave the city. He returns to the family house and waits, eating what food is left. When it runs out, he goes back into the streets; Japanese soldiers ignore him when he tries to surrender. After a street urchin chases him, two American hustlers, Basie and Frank, take him in, and Basie renames him Jim. He offers to lead them to his empty neighborhood to loot the houses there.
Cast
- Peter Galeas Mr. Victor
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Empire of the Sun (1987)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- It was the first American film shot in Shanghai since the 1940s. Over 5,000 local extras were used, some old enough to remember the Japanese occupation of Shanghai 40 years earlier, and members of the People's Liberation Army played the Japanese soldiers.
- David Lean came to direct the film with Steven Spielberg as producer, but gave it up. 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... but I gave it to Steve."
- Bale was 12 years old when he was cast. Amy Irving, his co-star in the television movie Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna, recommended him to her then-husband Steven Spielberg for the role, and more than 4,000 child actors auditioned.
- Allen Daviau, nominated as cinematographer, publicly complained that the director was overlooked: "I feel very sorry that I get nominations and Steven doesn't. It's his vision that makes it all come together, and if Steven wasn't making these films, none of us would be here."
- Ben Stiller, who appears in the film, conceived the idea for his own later movie Tropic Thunder while he was performing in Empire of the Sun.
