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"Nothing Christian Bale does has ever failed to impress me. He is fearless and he was fearless when he was 12 years old. I am impressed more and more with each role he takes. But in a quiet place in my own life I'll say, 'That's my boy.'" - Steven Spielberg, 2016
Aww.
And I decided that it was time to check out my blu-ray of
Empire Of The Sun (1987)
(I'm not crazy about paying extra for a pretty box in general, and I only own 2 steel ones so far - the other being Skyfall - but this was so damned beautiful I just had to get it in that version.)
In the beginning I was mostly in awe of what a difference a bigger and better tv and a blu-ray makes to an 80s movie previously only seen on a crappy old tv. Whoa. Then I started being in awe of the movie itself. It's one of my fave Spielberg movies and one of my fave Bale movies.
Children very rarely have clear lead roles in big (big budgets, big casts, multiple country shoots), non-kiddie movies (okay, I'm trying to think of another, but can't even think of one as big and comparable... I'm sure there are some...), and Bale carries his role here admirably. He was also lucky he got it, because these roles are so rare. And Spielberg - like he said himself - was lucky to get such a great kid. He said in some interview that Bale was one of the easiest children he has worked with, that he listened more than he talked. That sure wasn't the character, though, Jim at times was exhausting the adults... and it was hilarious.
John Malkovich has the second biggest role in the movie and he's also wonderful. Pretty much everyone is - just an excellent cast in general. (I can't even complain about Ben Stiller in his small part.)
It's shot mostly on location, and that's great. They even got permission to close down traffic in a long stretch of busy central Sanghai to shoot there (I think the first time that was done there) with lots of local extras involved. Production design, cinematography and everything else is naturally top notch. (Well, okay, there was a brief moment where I was thinking something like "Mr Williams, please, could you turn down the drama in the music" but as soon as I thought it the scene was over and so was that bit of music, phew.)
This is a pretty unusual war movie, and I love it for it.
Bale, Spielberg and Malkovich on the set of Empire Of The Sun:
The documentary (from the time of making the movie) included on the blu-ray I hadn't seen before, and it was just gold. It was fascinating both about the history in the WW2 time Shanghai, and the-movie-making-history-wise. Spielberg was adorable in it in general and with his child lead in particular. It's also nice to know that J.G.Ballard - on whose partly autobiographical book the movie is based on - was happy with the kid who was playing him. And for anyone suspicious of the movie's approach (not grim or overly bleak - though certainly not ignoring that side, either... but presumably an adult's view of the situation would have been very different from a child's) - Ballard said that really was his experience: that he was pretty happy in the Japanese internment camp - though his experiences were different from Jim's in some aspects. Ballard also has a small cameo in the movie.
Spielberg and Bale have apparently kept their good relationship ever since that movie. Chatting happily when they bump into each other at events. Praising each other often. Spielberg recommending Bale a few years ago to a Chinese colleague who wasn't familiar with Western actors - who then went to Bale with a personal note from Spielberg - and they ended up not only making the movie, but also got on really great. I assume Spielberg considered both acting and personal side, especially since there was extra stuff to consider that probably would have scared off many actors.
"With adults, when they say lunch for one hour, the adults go back to their trailers and I go back to mine. But with Henry Thomas during 'E. T.,' we would play video games for the entire hour. And with Christian, I bought him a radio-controlled racing car so every lunch hour we would go out with our cars and have races.'' - Steven Spielberg, 1988.
The scene with Benedict Cumberbatch is pure nightmare fuel. =))
@Birdleson. Happy you liked it!
I usually don't care for post-apocalyptic films, because so many of them are awash in darkness and dread just for the sake of it, and everything can be so utterly predictable and boring. My experience with Mad Max has been much different, however, and that's down to the utter genius of George Miller. He takes a very formulaic genre and gives it a greater sense of originality and zany wonder that really puts it on a shelf by itself. The series is not weighed down by dourness and shot in colorless tones; everything is larger than life, out of this world and vibrant, like a raging flame that keeps burning brighter and brighter. Miller's world is one that is utterly nuts, full of people dressed in leathers like they're preparing for a BDSM convention. Each character has their own unique vernacular full of fun slang, giving the post-apocalyptic Australia it's own language of madness that's hard not to appreciate and chuckle at. You could make a glossary full of the slang in the Mad Max universe, and I'm sure that there is already one out there. I for one would be disappointed if there wasn't.
The first Mad Max film was interesting, but it was with the sequels Road Warrior and the later Beyond Thunderdome that Miller really got to use a bigger budget to create a mad, wonderful world that captivates like no other. This is understandable, as the first was an independent film, and the most profitable one for over twenty years following its release until Blair Witch came around in the late 90s. It was clear what Miller wanted to do with the post-apocalyptic Australia from jump, but he lacked the funds to do it at the very start. In the later films his full vision really gets transmitted and there has and never will be anything like it on celluloid. The characters, their vernacular, dress sense and their motivations all combine to form the picture of a truly crazy world where wars are fought over gasoline (referred to as "guzzoline" in the films) and people do anything and use anyone to survive. Those like Max who were alive when the world crumbled into nothing and witnessed the madness take over clash with those born after the destruction of the world, where that madness is all they've ever known. The contrast of those who lament the lost world and those who know nothing different is played up especially powerfully in Beyond Thunderdome, a film that seems to be largely derided, but that I really got a kick out of.
There's also great mechanical sensibility to everything in the Mad Max universe. Max alone signifies this, as he has an almost symbiotic relationship with his cars throughout the series, namely the powerful Interceptor. Further still, the many zany outfits of his allies and foes are made up of metal scrap and various items salvaged from the Wasteland, further evoking a theme of machinery and man becoming one in a world where that kind of industry helped to tear everything apart. You see people fashioning clothes and weaponry out of anything they can find in the Wasteland, which provides nice visual metaphors for how they have all had to adapt and adopt this new, crazy world of theirs to survive, and become one with it reluctantly over time before letting the fever of madness and disorder take complete control.
The factors that make the films reach such a class of their own are many in number. Max takes on a beautifully mythical quality in each film, completely in line with Joseph Campbell's playbook of heroes. Max is the quintessential "Man with No Name," the lone figure who pops up out of mystery to solve a problem before disappearing again with double the mystery of before. There are characters in Road Warrior and Beyond Thunderdome who tell legends of him and his exploits that they pass on and on down the line, making Max less of a man and more of an idea in the post-apocalyptic landscape. His legend becomes a symbol of order in chaos, giving people suffering in the Wasteland the hope that the Road Warrior is always out there somewhere righting wrongs and fighting the insanity grasping hold of them all, while slowly losing grips with his own at the same time. This makes the series a great, shocking mix of apocalyptic films and westerns in unexpected, glorious ways, while also adopting the social commentary of classic sci-fi to make statements about humanity in captivating ways.
This is all a long way of saying I love these films and the lore of the universe. I think Miller should've kept Mel and told old Max stories, but I'm interested to see how Tom Hardy performs in Fury Road, which I'll be watching soon. Nothing will change the fact in my mind, however, that Mel originated the character and made him the icon he is, or that every time I think of Max I picture Mel in leather, carrying that sawed-off in his hand walking down a dusty, desolate highway off to another accidental adventure that'll again carry his name into legend.
Anybody who hasn't experienced the Mad Max universe outside of Fury Road or at all should check out the films that began it all. Fans of great lore, fascinating characters and the interesting mixing of various genres that Miller and his team manage should get a kick out of these movies. I know I have.
All is one odd mo fo :-O :))
Stood up and applauded it. :)
Am a big fan of Walter Hill, especially his work in the 70's.
This is yet another re-working of Yojimbo. Entertaining, with a great opening track from the great Ry Cooder, but not Hills best. Willis is good, but Chris Walken steals his thunder!
Best one of the lot! Loved Tom Hardy's Bane!
Regard it as a Masterpiece. ;)
THIS. I saw a showing of the entire trilogy, and when it came time for TDKR, the hype was through the roof. All 3 are definitely some of the best Batman films we've ever gotten.
We're right. :)
I'm long overdue for a rewatch.