Empire of Light (2022)

Empire of Light is the first film that I saw at the cinema in 2023 and part of my ongoing mission to see more films at the cinema. I was a big fan of Sam Mendes as I loved his two Bond films with Skyfall being (in my opinion), the best Bond film ever. I also think that 1917 was a brilliant film that I wanted to see what he would come up with next and its fair to say that Empire of Light is about as different from 1917 as it is possible to get. Empire of Light is about Hilary (Olivia Colman) who gets romantically involved with Stephen (Michael Ward) whilst working in a cinema in the 1980’s. 

The performances in this film are brilliant. The sentence ‘Olivia Colman is really good’ is one that should be expected because I can’t remember the last time I saw her give a bad performance. She comes across as likeable and vulnerable. When she has her breakdown its incredibly sad to watch and it’s because Colman makes you care. Michael Ward is someone that I wasn’t aware of before this film and gives a superb

The cinema is a character and I wanted to spend a lot more time there because the way that it was shot made it feel like it was the sort of cinema that I would want to visit. The cinemas within driving distance of me are nice, clean and comfortable but they never feel like they have a personality. This film shows you how important these cinemas are especially in the post pandemic world. 

1917 (2019)

There aren’t many films in recent years that I have been looking forward to see. 1917 is one of those films largely because of a video I saw on YouTube and that one shot of George Mackay running towards the camera. This film is directed by Sam Mendes who attempted a similar thing in Spectre a few years ago. In that case it was only a few minutes and in this film it's just over two hours long. In short, 1917 is a superb film.

The set-up of the film is that Lance Corporal Blake (played by Dean-Charles Chapman) has to deliver a message to Colonel MacKenzie (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) calling off an attack which will kill 1600 men including his brother. The key selling point is that the film is shot as one continuous shot. I thought that this helped add to the drama and tension. It was quite clever how they managed to make things flow and keep the low key moments interesting enough.

The central performances are really good although I was surprised that Blake died so early in the film. It’s his brother that is driving him through this terror but in the end it makes sense why they did this. I thought the scene where Schofield meets Blake’s brother and tells him he has died was a really sad moment and despite being a downbeat way to end the film I thought it was the best way to end it. In fact the final shot mirrors the opening shot which I appreciated.

If I had one issue with the film is that the gap in time when Schofield is knocked out is a bit of a cheat. Ok so they only did it once but its something that bothers me. I am a bit pedantic in that way but it is what it is. Another slight thing that could be filed under nit-picking is one bit when after Blake has died we learn that there is a whole convoy of vehicles that somehow managed to go right by them without making a sound. I just thought it was a bit strange. Apart from those two things, I thought it was everything I hoped it would be. It would have been nice if they had found a way of getting around it so they whole film is one long shot but I suppose they only did it the once so it could be forgiven.

There is very little blood yet it manages to convey the horrors of war yet never feels like it's being preachy or self righteous. There is one moment when Schofield is swimming through bodies that had become bloated by being in the water so long which was quite grim. The big scene where Schofield is running towards the camera is as close to iconic as it's possible to get. I don’t know if it was planned that he ran collided with other soldiers but it helped add to the realism and he did well to maintain his focus.

It never stops at any point in the film which for something with a two hour running time is quite impressive. 1917 deserves all the praise it is getting and is one of my highlights of the year and if it's not in my top 3 then I will be surprised. Sam Mendes has directed a film that is just as good if not better than Skyfall. I came out of the screening and was stunned and was so glad that I saw this on the big screen instead of my TV at home. A gem of a movie.