Empire of Light (2022)

[Winston T. Boogie]

Title: Empire of Light (2022)

Tagline: Film. An illusion of life.

Genre: Drama, Romance

Director: Sam Mendes

Cast: Olivia Colman, Micheal Ward, Toby Jones, Colin Firth, Tom Brooke, Tanya Moodie, Hannah Onslow, Crystal Clarke, Sara Stewart, Adrian McLoughlin, Spike Leighton, Mark Field, Ashleigh Reynolds, Mark Goldthorp, Dylan Blore, Eliza Glock, Tim Samuels, Jamie Whitlow, Dougie Boyall, D.J. Bailey, George Whitehead

Release: 2022-11-12

Runtime: 115

Plot: A love story set in and around an old cinema, on the South Coast of England in the 1980s.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Mendes is a helluva filmmaker, I look forward to seeing this.

 

[TravisR]

Mendes is enough for me but Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross doing the score also captures my interest.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Mendes is enough for me but Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross doing the score also captures my interest.

And of course, Deakins...

 

[Jason_V]

Empire of Light isn't a movie I was waiting with bated breath to see Empire of Light. Honestly, I went because I had a free night and it was the only thing playing at my preferred theater I hadn't seen yet. Two days later, I'm still trying to figure out what Mendes is trying to say with it.

The obvious message is too, well, obvious, so I discount that one. I'd also assume he wanted to say something about the power of movies to transport you to a different place. If that's the case, great...fine...wonderful...the movie fails miserably at that navel-gazing. If it's to show what this one moment in time was like for two people-one a racial minority and the other a mental health minority-again, great, fine, wonderful...nothing new under that sun.

I don't hate or dislike Empire of Light; I'm just ambivalent to it. I'm happy I saw it so I can speak intelligently (hopefully) about it in the future. But is it a movie I ever want or need to come back to? Nope.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Empire of Light isn't a movie I was waiting with bated breath to see Empire of Light. Honestly, I went because I had a free night and it was the only thing playing at my preferred theater I hadn't seen yet. Two days later, I'm still trying to figure out what Mendes is trying to say with it.

The obvious message is too, well, obvious, so I discount that one. I'd also assume he wanted to say something about the power of movies to transport you to a different place. If that's the case, great...fine...wonderful...the movie fails miserably at that navel-gazing. If it's to show what this one moment in time was like for two people-one a racial minority and the other a mental health minority-again, great, fine, wonderful...nothing new under that sun.

I don't hate or dislike Empire of Light; I'm just ambivalent to it. I'm happy I saw it so I can speak intelligently (hopefully) about it in the future. But is it a movie I ever want or need to come back to? Nope.

I've not seen it yet so can't engage in a discussion about it yet. I love Mendes as a filmmaker and so am very intrigued to see it. Also Roger Deakins shot it, which makes it a must see, for me anyway. I tend not to read much about a picture before seeing it because I want my experience with it to be fresh for me. Then after seeing it I will dive into reviews to see how what other people thought compares to what I thought.

Of course, I have to see where this is playing to find out if there is anyplace near me where I can go to catch it. The closest cinema to me now is a giant multiplex that has a lot of screens but it seems to dedicate them to a small number of whatever the big mainstream features are. If I want to see something like this, which I assume not many people will want to go see, I have to locate it and plan a day or evening around it.

 

[Wayne_j]

I saw this today, great performances by Colman and Michael Ward. Roger Deakins did a wonderful job behind the camera.

It's not often that you see a movie focusing on the exhibition side of movies.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I'm looking forward to seeing this movie.

 

[Mikael Soderholm]

Based on the above comments, it sounds a bit like The Majestic, which I liked a lot, but I may of course be totally mistaken.
Anyway, Mendes, Deakins and that impressive list of acting talent, plus the composers, makes me very interested.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I finally got around to seeing this. Beautiful to look at, Deakins does his usual stunning work but I did not love it. While there are some cool movie references in this, it is primarily about a woman with some mental illness issues, a couple of affairs she has, and how she impacts the lives of those that work at the Empire cinema.

It is a good film, just not really what I was thinking this would be. It has a good cast, performances are excellent, there are some nice moments. Overall, the story is a bit of a downer, with a stew of issues stirred together. Dealing with depression and personality disorders, racism, sex with your coworkers, and life in early 1980s England. For me, it did not really come together. I wanted to love it, but I found it a well made drama that I don't have much interest in revisiting.

I love Deakins work here, the old cinema is beautiful. I loved everything around that and that they were hosting a premiere of Chariots of Fire (this is the timeframe the story is set in). My favorite scene is when the main character, Colman, comes back to the cinema at night when it is closed and asks the projectionist, played by Toby Jones, to show her a film...any film, his choice. Jones lights up a bit when she says he can choose and he shows her Being There, which is one of my all time favorite pictures. This was great, but it is just a minor moment in the story which really is about the other things I have mentioned.

It's worth seeing, just for Deakins work, but overall it did not appeal much to me. Nice use of music in the film, beautiful images, you can't fault Colman's performance, she is a wonderful actor, but just not something I would call great, and I do love Mr. Mendes as a filmmaker.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Empire of Light isn't a movie I was waiting with bated breath to see Empire of Light. Honestly, I went because I had a free night and it was the only thing playing at my preferred theater I hadn't seen yet. Two days later, I'm still trying to figure out what Mendes is trying to say with it.

The obvious message is too, well, obvious, so I discount that one. I'd also assume he wanted to say something about the power of movies to transport you to a different place. If that's the case, great...fine...wonderful...the movie fails miserably at that navel-gazing. If it's to show what this one moment in time was like for two people-one a racial minority and the other a mental health minority-again, great, fine, wonderful...nothing new under that sun.

I don't hate or dislike Empire of Light; I'm just ambivalent to it. I'm happy I saw it so I can speak intelligently (hopefully) about it in the future. But is it a movie I ever want or need to come back to? Nope.

While it is set in a cinema, to me there was not much there that got into the power of movies, other than all of these people seemed to really enjoy working at a cinema. I liked the movies that were referenced, that was fun, but mostly they just amount to references.

Mostly, if I were to say what the film is, it seems mostly created to be a showcase for Ms. Colman, who makes the most of it. She delivers a really great performance which essentially, outshines everything else in it...perhaps aside from Deakins' photography. The rest of the cast do a good job but the central part in the picture belongs to Colman, and while Michael Ward is almost like a co-lead, his part really just supports what Colman is doing and he is our eyes on her in key sequences for the most part.

 

[JoeStemme]

EMPIRE OF LIGHT just hit HBO Max. It's also on VOD.

There are two main characters in Writer-Director Sam Mendes' EMPIRE OF LIGHT. The first is Hilary (Olivia Colman) a single 40-something woman. The other is her place of employment, the Empire Cinema in a coastal town in Kent, England. Set in the early 1980s (there are references to STIR CRAZY and CHARIOTS OF FIRE) the grand old theater is in need of upkeep and a makeover. So, too, it soon becomes obvious does Hilary.

She is in a doctor's care and goes through mood swings, a major one is set off when a handsome young man, Stephen (Micheal Ward) begins working at the movie house. Hilary doesn't hide her desires. Stephen is black which only complicates the emotions. Further, Britain is in the throes of Thatcherism and a growing White Nationalist/Skinhead movement.

All of this is inter-cut with a nostalgic look at the Empire Theater itself. The red carpeted lobby. Two huge auditoriums with chandeliers and luxurious curtains. Up in the projection booth Norman (Toby Jones) commands the projectors like a master. During that era, it was all shown of film, of course, and Norman is it's conductor. His little fiefdom. The staff all seem to get along well under the thumb of the oily boss of a theater manager (Colin Firth). Hilary is satisfied running the lobby and doesn't venture inside to watch the actual movies.

Colman is her dependable self navigating the awkward screenplay. There is little flow or cohesion in the story-telling. Ward also acquits himself well, even if one never truly believes in the relationship. Jones is superb in support. It's a fine looking movie with Roger Deakins' cinematography shining through - he is, after all, an Emperor of Light himself.

Mendes has said that this is a paean to the power of the movies. Unfortunately, the unwieldy screenplay subverts his own intentions. The social importance aspect never feels true, and Hilary's problems get swept about like so much spilled popcorn on the theater's floors. The different sections never work together. It's like seeing a double feature of a (mediocre) Merchant Ivory film with an overwrought horror film. They simply don't go together however stately the cinema it takes place in.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I'll be watching this movie on HBO Max to determine whether I want to purchase the 4K digital when it drops in price.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

navigating the awkward screenplay. There is little flow or cohesion in the story-telling.

This is the key problem with the film. The screenplay is often, well, cringeworthy. Some of the lines that Colman has to deliver are just terrible. The thing is, she is great, so she does an excellent job delivering this forced dialogue. It is awkward because the picture is not focused on any of the issues presented, it just throws them in.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

This is a tough one for me. The more I ponder this picture, the more I dislike it. I think I want to say good things about it because I like all the people that contributed to making it...but the more I think about it, the more I think about the writing and the story...the more I come to the conclusion that this is just a very highly polished, shiny turd.

It's weird because, there are good things about it and at that surface level it feels like it should be good film but...it just is not.

Hard for me to come to terms with Mendes, Deakins, Colman, Ward, Firth...all delivering what they are attempting to deliver and it ends up just being a bad film.

I know Mendes has complained in the press that people did not bother to see this picture and I don't want to tell people not to see this. However, this is the worst script Mendes has shot in his career. It's awful in a big bad way.

I won't explain my issues with it unless someone around here asks to hear them and then if I do I will put them in spoilers.

Not sure many here are that interested in this picture anyway, because there aren't many comments on it. I can say it won't be one I'll revisit. One of my big disappointments of 2022.

 

[bujaki]

Not worth revisiting. Most memorable for its cinematography and for the professionalism of its actors.

 

[JoeStemme]

This is a tough one for me. The more I ponder this picture, the more I dislike it. I think I want to say good things about it because I like all the people that contributed to making it...but the more I think about it, the more I think about the writing and the story...the more I come to the conclusion that this is just a very highly polished, shiny turd.

Trust me, I was actively "rooting" for it as I sat in the theater! Please be good. NO, don't do that! Oh, that's ok. NO! Don't go there! Oooh. That private screening scene is so sweet. NOOOOO!! NOT THAT!

And so on.