Image: Disney
Even if you can look back on an Academy Award (for “American Beauty”) and three Oscar nominations (for “1917”), there are still firsts in the film: With “Empire of Light” the Brit Sam Mendes (“Skyfall “) a debut before. After nine directorial works, “Empire of Light” is the first work based on a script that the 57-year-old wrote alone.
Anyone familiar with Mendes’ work will quickly sense that the one he directed is different. It will be difficult for film fans who prefer a lot of concrete, eye-catching action. For those who love soft soaring atmospheres, hints and stories that evolve from characters, it’s going to be a feast.
The focus is on a woman who is carrying an invisible burden, a young man who doesn’t know where his life is going, and a unique location: the “Empire” cinema, which is enthroned on the beach promenade of a British coastal town in the 1980s. Hilary, Oscar winner Olivia Colman (49, “The Favorite”), and Stephen, played by British discovery Michael Ward (25), work here. They tear off cards, sit at the cash register and start something on the deserted upper floor that some would call an affair, others a relationship for life.
She is twice his age. He is black, she is white. What will this lead to? From the answer, director Mendes develops a mores of Thatcher-era Britain as well as one of the modern age: racism, misogyny, economic downturn and a question as old as cinema itself: will it survive? The only thing one can blame the screenwriter Mendes for is the strangely stereotypical “evil” character of the cinema owner, played with dignity, but not only convincingly, by the third Oscar winner, Colin Firth.
Otherwise, “Empire of Light” is a brilliant imagery (camera: Oscar winner number four, Roger Deakins) shaped ode to the beauty of decay and the splendor of carrying on, in which a festival of drama combines with the magic of cinema. A work that reminds us why a film can be balm for the soul.
“Empire of Light”: GB/USA 2022, 116 mins, in cinemas now
OÖN Rating:
The trailer for the film:
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I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
