Wednesday, June 22, 2005
MORERevised 062305
Empire of the Sun still lingers in the mind.
I even had it going last night during the night.
I did not mention that the story is written by Tom Stoppard from an autobiographical novel by J.G. Ballard. I think this is a very important part of the film's success; the writing.
It would be so easy to veer off the road into maudlin sentimentality on one side or mean torturous agony on the other. They hew a fine course of believability and solid dramatic impact.
I am going to try to get the book. Ballard became a very successful writer with many books still in print.
His Crash was made into a film by David Cronenberg in 1966.
Dave corrected my earlier assertion that this is the more recent film with the same name.
The Ballard one stars James Spader and, as I remember from the reviews, is pretty weird and gross. I think I will start with the book after I read Empire.
