Spielberg's "Empire" < Lucas's "Empire"

Empire of the Sun was yet again a first-time film viewing experience for me. I had heard about the film in the past but had never actually gotten a chance to see it, and until recently, was not even aware that it was directed by Steven Spielberg! Although...I do feel that there is good reason for that. To me, Empire of the Sun does not really "feel like" a Spielberg film. Aside from the recurring theme of a family torn apart, the use of a child protagonist, and the stunning displays of light, I did not notice many similarities in terms of film style or technique compared to the other Spielberg films that we have watched so far. Surprisingly, even though the plot revolves around a child protagonist, there are not very many typical Spielbergian shots with the camera low to the ground, as in E.T. where the camera seems to be taking on Elliot or E.T.'s view of the world. Also, another Spielberg trademark that was noticeably absent from Empire of the Sun was his often-praised use of off-screen space to manipulate audience expectations.

However, I don't think the lack of Spielberg trademark techniques is what caused me to ultimately end up disappointed with the film. I felt that it was often hard to remain interested in the story because of the very episodic nature of the film's structure. (And not episodic in a good way, as in Raiders of the Lost Ark.) The film seemed to jump from one event in Jim's adventure to the next, and as a result, I would sometimes get lost and not know how much time had passed between scenes. This was confusing at times, but even after I realized where we were in the story, I still felt that this sort of structure threw off the pacing of the film and kept it from flowing as nicely as most Spielberg pictures.

There were a few things that I liked about the film, though. Christian Bale gave a great performance, and it was interesting to see one of my favorite actors of this generation carrying a film at such a young age. Also, the music and cinematography were amazing (which is par for a Spielberg film), but unfortunately, as with The Color Purple, this was not enough to make me truly enjoy the film.