“Empire of Light” (2023)
Heart breaking seaside postcard from mental illness.
Heart breaking seaside postcard from mental illness.
I was initially drawn to Sam Mendes’ 11th all time feature length release by what seemed to me at first glance to be a love letter to 1980’s cinema and for the anticipated central performance of Olivia Colman. Long before the English actress became synonymous as an Oscar winning Queen of England I fell in love with her acting gifts during Paddy Considine’s remarkable directing debut in Tyrannosaur well over a decade ago, a film, three performances and a directorial debut that has to be seen to be believed, and with a cathartic ending to the heart break that cruelly comes before it.
But Empire of Light is many things away from the adoration of the inner workings of an independent cinema and the due care, attention and detail lovingly bestowed upon the all important projection booth and the cranking of gears and reels and the celluloid running through them, that beautiful cinematic illusion of moving pictures projected onto a screen in the darkness. The love letter to cinema is here, from the fastidious and proud team running, painting, cleaning and preparing a grand old seaside cinema in the lead up to the Christmas and New Year of 1980 and their wishes and desires for 1981, but so too is the repugnant racism that blighted the times of street riots in London and Liverpool and a feeling of anger and discontent that spilled from these inner cities to the suburbs and seaside towns throughout England. The film also shines a pun intended light on mental illness and the crushing reality of depression and anxiety all whilst wrapped in a love story and of lifelong support and friendship that hit far too close to home for this cinema lover from a seaside city that saw his past life twisted back and forth through both of the film’s central characters.
Whilst I’ve never had to deal with the horrid spectre and ugly violence of racism, I am, or was, my namesake character here Stephen, brilliantly, stoically and occasionally brutally comedically realised by Micheal Ward in a bravura performance. I was that young idealist and film fanatic living beside the seaside and embarking on my first first steps into responsible adulthood all whilst finding love, exploration and freedom with a beautiful older lady. But whereas Olivia Colman here infuses her character with an honest and stark portrayal of the utter desolation of depression, anxiety and crippling loneliness, that was me, is still me, and I found their love affair hit far too close to home and it rather broke my heart.
Hillary (or simply and affectionately “Hills”) comes alive in the presence of the younger and newest member of staff of the cinema she is the meticulous duty manager of. Lost in a daze of her own thoughts, highly medicated and “numb” from the prescribed Lithium as well as “A fucking nutter” apparently, Stephen appreciates the beautiful human being hiding inside the shy, quiet older lady who describes herself self deprecatingly as “so boring!”. Hillary is anything but boring, but she is in an existential and depressive pain that bites her and those around her hard and when she implores her new love and friend for life “You’ve got to get away from here”, I dissolved into a sobbing mess for the two characters on screen and for the two real life characters so vividly, with roles reversed, brought back to life from my memories of walking along a seaside promenade that hadn’t changed from the 1980’s depicted here, and a love affair at the start of my real life.
Empire of Light comes highly recommended, aided and abetted by a Hall of Fame behind the scenes crew that sees Roger Deakins nominated yet again for an Oscar this year for his beautiful cinematography, Mark Tildesley’s production design forever deserves kudos, as does the often gentle piano musical score of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. The soundtrack to the film is sublime too with tracks from Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Cat Stevens eclipsed in the eyes and ears of this child of the 1980’s by The Specials “Do Nothing”, the “Two Tone” musical theme of the era brilliantly realised in another of the film’s beautifully moving scenes.
In front of the camera, it’s arguably Stephen’s story rather than Hillary’s with Micheal Ward eclipsing his more senior co-star, quite the compliment when you see the thunderous performance from Olivia Colman. Tom Brooke heads up the supporting cast with the film’s real heart and empathetic soul, with both Colin Firth as a staid, upright yet duplicitous cinema owner and Toby Jones as a master of his projectionist craft, in cameo roles.
Sam Mendes’ 11th all time feature film is a beautiful gem that touched me personally, very deeply, and broke my tiny heart!
Be careful, it may break yours too.
Thanks for reading. Just for larks as always, and always a human reaction rather than spoilers galore. My three most recently published film articles are linked below or there’s well over 200 blog articles (with 400+ individual film reviews) within my archives from which to choose:
“Knock at the Cabin” (2023)
What would you do to save the world?medium.com
“The Square” (2017)
Bizarre tale of a society in need of help.medium.com
“The Fabelmans (2022)
A very ordinary disappointment.medium.com