Depiction Of War In Empire Of The Sun By Steven Spielberg
The movie Empire of the Sun, directed by Steven Spielberg, is about a young boy’s journey of survival in the Second Sino-Japanese War. This war was fought between the Republic of China and Empire of Japan before and during World War II, from 1937 to 1945. The war was initially a result of the Japanese imperialist policy aiming to dominate China to obtain raw materials and other valuable resources. During this same period of time, Chinese nationalism was rising and ideas of self-determination increased support for the war. After the Invasion of Manchuria, the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, the attack on Pearl Harbor, and outbreak of World War II, the Chinese were prepared to fight back with the support of the United States and Britain. However, in China, the Japanese army of occupation already controlled much of the countryside and many cities. The thousands of Westerners living in Shanghai had previously been protected by the diplomatic security of the International Settlement, but the Japanese soon started to invade these areas and take control. Jim, the main character of the film, is a victim of these invasions and is taken as a prisoner of war by the Japanese. Before the war, he had been living in a world full of luxury with endless opportunities because of his high status and wealth as a British citizen in Shanghai. Now, he has to learn to survive the harsh conditions of the war, and soon realizes that real war isn’t as glamorous or exciting as he previously thought, but rather is brutal and cruel.
Throughout the movie, there are many specific events that Jim experiences that directly reflect what happened in the war. With the threat of war, many of the European women and children living in Shanghai evacuated to Hong Kong and Singapore. Jim and his family did not, so when the Japanese invade Shanghai with boats, planes, tanks, and endless number of troops, there is immense commotion as everyone is trying to escape. At this point in time, the film realistically shows the insanely crowded streets, chaotic environment, and restlessness in China. As Jim and his family are trying to evacuate, they are pushed, shoved, and can barely hold onto each other. They become separated when Jim goes to pick up his toy plane that he dropped because in that moment, it was more important for him to pick up the toy than hold on to his mom’s hand. He failed to grasp the magnitude of what was going on during the chaotic scene and the implications of being separated from his parents. That was the last time he saw his parents for several years, which left him to face the brutal war alone. During the war, many families were split up from each other, and most were never reunited again. Other accurate depictions of the war in the movie include the Japanese looting the homes of wealthy Europeans, the selective choosing of who gets to go to the Japanese internment camps, the hunger and disease at the camps, and the bombing of Nagasaki. Specifically, when the Japanese invade and take the valuables from the European homes, Jim finds a sign on his house that says, “This house is now the property of his Imperial Majesty The Japanese Emperor.” These signs were evidence to show that the Japanese had taken control over certain areas and that the former residents were no longer welcome. The bombing of Nagasaki was also shown in the movie and Jim’s witnessing of the atomic bomb’s immense power seems to be particularly accurate. Even though Jim was extremely far from Nagasaki at the time of the bombing, he saw the nuclear flashes and says “it was like a white light in the sky.” In reality, the bombing of Nagasaki was seen from over thousands miles away, and therefore the traces of light that Jim sees from the bombing is accurate. In the end, many specific events throughout this movie are accurate depictions of history; however, the war is being seen through the eyes of a young boy, and for that reason, some of the experiences that Jim has are distorted.
Jim’s perspective of the war evolves and becomes more informed as his experiences become more brutal throughout the movie. At the beginning of the novel, the war is more of a fantasy, or an opportunity rather, for him to witness the planes and courageous pilots. He admires the soldiers and views them all, even the Japanese soldiers, as brave and strong. This oblivious perspective persists through Jim’s initial experience at the Japanese internment camp. At the beginning of his time at the camp, the forced labor is not shown to be very demanding and the prisoners are barely working hard or punished. The brutality that would have actually existed from the start of Jim’s time at the camp is absent and Jim continues to maintain a positive attitude at the camp, which is unrealistic. He even establishes a trade network of food, clothes, supplies, and more resources he needs to survive where he ultimately benefits. In reality, the prisoners of war were forced into slave labor and faced harsh working conditions. The standard work schedule at these camps were typically eight hours a day with one day a week off, but the internees were often forced to work longer. In the movie, Jim is often pictured playing with other children, helping out at the infirmary, and receiving lessons from the camp’s British doctor. Due to the eight hour work schedule that would typically be enforced at a traditional internment camp, Jim wouldn’t have time to do all these other activities. Therefore, we can conclude that the lens through which Jim views the war at the beginning of the movie is too narrow for him to see the extreme brutality that it involves. However, by the end of the movie, Jim realizes the harshness of the war and consequently, we start to see the negative effects that the camps have on the prisoners. For example, we see more physical evidence of people facing starvation, malnutrition, and disease. Jim starts to have mental breakdowns and confesses that he doesn’t remember what his parents look like. Also, one of Jim’s friends dies, and this further allows him to expand his lens to confront the permanent consequence of the war. Ultimately, I think the director aimed for Jim to experience a loss of innocence throughout his journey in the war. Therefore, as a coming of age film, Jim’s perspective becomes more evolved as his innocence is taken away from him. In order to do this, the director had to distort the accuracy of certain events to achieve this goal.
Steven Spielberg, an American director, even incorporated ideals of the American mythos and American idolization in Jim’s experience of the war throughout this movie. As Jim’s lens of the war broadens, he realizes the heroic nature of the Americans and applauds their military efforts. Jim’s initial admiration of the Americans is shown when he attempts to get into the American POW barracks. His friend Baise, an American hustler who he first met before the camp, makes Jim prove himself worthy before allowing him to move into the barrack. After Jim sneaks under the barbed wire surrounding the camp and kills a pheasant, he earns Baise’s and the American POW’s respect, and therefore gets to live in the American barrack. This represents the American mythos because it shows how Jim had to work his way up to achieve success. However, whether it would have actually been allowed for a British to move into an American barrack is questionable, and Baise certainly didn’t have the authority to make that decision. This shows another way how Spielberg altered the legitimacy of the film to further emphasize a theme in the movie. Jim’s idolization of the Americans advances/strengthens as American planes begin to perform aerial attacks on the Japanese internment camps. To Jim, the Americans are heroes for helping to liberate them from the harsh conditions of the camps. Additionally, towards the end of the movie, American planes drop parachutes with food and magazines down to the prisoners of war. Jim devours the food and we see that he is the most excited he has been in a while, which further emphasizes the heroic nature of the Americans to Jim. Ultimately, Jim’s admiration of American culture shows the pride in which Steven Spielberg, as an American, feels in his country; and these American values help Jim transform into a self-reliant person who has worked hard to survive the war.
In the final scene of the movie, Jim is reunited with his parents, however he doesn’t recognize them. This scene represents his story of independence and growth, both of which are core American values. While Jim’s innocence is never going to return, he now has a greater awareness of the suffering and cruelty in the world around him. Postwar, he has an expanded worldview based on his life experiences, and therefore sees real world events not a fantasy rather, but as for what they truly are.
