Empire of Light

The movie "Empire of Light" is filled with metaphors about human relationships. Writer and director Sam Mendes does a beautiful and sensitive job of bringing two socially marginalized individuals together through the art of film, music, and poetry.

Hilary (Olivia Colman), a movie theater manager is suffering from mental illness and Stephen (Micheal Ward), a movie theater helper is suffering racial discrimination in the community. Two worlds apart that together manage to understand each other's pain.

Olivia Colman's interpretation is once again absolutely perfect, she manages to convey all the pain of her character without uttering a word, only through her body language.

A beautiful soundtrack that helps enhance the mood of the movie.

Anyone who goes to see "Empire of Light" expecting another cosy movie about the love of cinema, both the medium and the building, will be sadly disappointed since Sam Mendes' superb new movie is about so much more. Yes, it's a love letter to all aspects of 'cinema' but it's also about racism and mental illness, lonliness and our ability to connect and it works on all these levels.

The setting is an unnamed town on England's South Coast in the early 1980's and the Picture Palace in question, (the Dreamland Cinema in Margate standing in for the Empire), really is a Picture Palace of the old school, (well, the bits of it that are open to the public are, at least), and Hilary, (an Oscar-worthy Olivia Colman), is the unhappy, lonely and mentally challenged duty manager who has allowed herself to drift into a casual sexual relationship with her married boss, (Colin Firth), and who now finds herself drawn to a new young employee who happens to be black, (Michael Ward, excellent).

Today, even with the age difference between them, this wouldn't be thought of as a problem but this was the early '80's and the National Front were on the march and Mendes' 'romance' doesn't shy away from the racism directed at Ward's character or from Hilary's mental problems. But this isn't a glum picture. Gorgeously photographed by Roger Deakins it is indeed a love letter to the movies and if like me you don't go stir crazy over "Stir Crazy", the joys of "Being There" should draw you in. Beautifully written, (also by Mendes), directed and acted, (as another employee Tom Brooke is also outstanding), this moving and intelligent picture really shouldn't be missed.

If you enjoy reading my Spoiler-Free thoughts, please follow my blog to read my full review :)

"Empire of Light works best as a love letter to the art of filmmaking and the theater experience. Brilliant performances. Astonishing to behold. Emotional to listen to - score is the technical highlight. Not so captivating narratively, considering that Sam Mendes' first solo script lacks depth in the most important themes.

It's a beautiful tribute to the magic of cinema that cinephiles will enjoy, but for viewers less passionate about the 7th art, it might be difficult to genuinely care."

Rating: B-

Empire of Light is such a beautiful piece of cinema, oozing class, poignancy and power.

The story follows Olivia Coleman's Hilary, who forms an unlikely bond with Micheal Ward's Stephen whilst working together at the Empire cinema in Margate.

This style of story is right up my street. A mismatched pair who find solace and comfort in each other. It is beautifully done and packs in so many themes and different angles. I do think that some of the themes are dealt with in a bit of a ham-fisted way, and a bit more refinement would have been welcome but this is a relatively minor criticism. On the whole the story is very well crafted.

The performances are top notch. Olivia Colman really shines and is pushed to the limit by the layers of her character. Micheal Ward is a more than worthy opposite for her with a great leading performance.

With the cinematography in the hands of Roger Deakins the film was always going to be a visual treat. There is a melancholic majesty to the cinema set that Deakins captures which is gorgeous. As always he photographs the characters with such sympathy and feeling.

To top it all off the soundtrack perfectly compliments the themes of the film and brings even more emotion to the piece.

I'm surprised this film isn't getting more love as it really blew me away and has so much power and emotion to it. Empire of Light is a real triumph in my opinion.

...Well... at least that's what could have been. When the movie opens and sets us back into the late 70s and early 80s, seeing a classic cinema, with some craftsmanship behind it, that we forgot how to appreciate. With beautiful cinematography and lighting, this really makes you melancholic... that's the good part...

Unfortunately I checked my watch so many times during this movie, wondering when it would finally reach the 2h mark and therefore the end. It's easily 30mins to long and while it has a VERY important message that is still relevant today unfortunately, it somehow get's lost in its own melancholia, but not in a Lars von Trier way, just in "are we there yet?" way.

While it surely has its beautiful moments and lovely dialogues along the way, it did only drag me in for about 2, 3 mins and had me lost in the other scenes for some reason. It feels like this movie wants to be to many things at the same time and can't decide where to put its focus point.