Thursday, December 8, 2022
Empire of Light
The time is 1981 when racism, high unemployment rate, and extreme turmoils overshadow England. Sitting next to the ocean beach in Margate, a movie theater called Empire is downsized to its lower floors. Its top floor is left in ruins and is only patronized by wild pigeons. The person in charge of operating the theater is the lonely and reticent house manager Hillary Small (Olivia Colman), who dutifully executes her daily routines while enduring her boss Donald Ellis's (Colin Firth) appalling abuse. Despite working in the theater, Hillary never sees any film showing there.
When the handsome and charming new employee Stephen (Micheal Ward) appears in the theater lobby, Hillary is dazzled and falls for him quickly. Stephen lights up her world and the ruined top floor becomes their secret meeting space. Stephen allows Hillary to sense hope, to experience joy, to feel optimism, and to get off her medication for her mental illness.
But they cannot escape the larger political atmosphere. Their secret romance is interrupted when their coworker Neil (Tom Brooke) tells Stephen that their affairs upstairs are no longer a secret. Stephen cannot take the pressure and wants to stop the romance with Hillary. Hillary's world is crushed and she is back to her lonely, despairing space. As Stephen goes to a university, Hillary must find new light to brighten her life. When the wise projectionist Norman (Toby Jones) shows her "Being There" (1979), she sits in the theater for the first time.
The subtle, affecting, and poignant performances from Olivia Colman and Micheal Ward are more convincing than Sam Mendes's story. There is no question about how easy one can fall in love with the charismatic Stephen. But the film doesn't quite establish what makes Stephen so fond of Hillary. Despite that problematic setup, Sam Mendes is able to capture our imagination and tells a heartbreaking love story.
Like "Cinema Paradiso" (1988), Sam Mendes pays tribute with this film to the cinema art and echoes cinephiles' sentiment toward going to a movie theater. However, that love to cinema expressed in the film looks cosmetic and has little connection to the relationship between the two protagonists, nor the plot.
Watching a movie together in a communal setting is a unique human experience. Movie theaters have been giving away to streaming services in recent years, especially after the devastating pandemic. Yet, it's ironic that in the end, when Hillary finally sees a movie, she sits in a theater alone. It doesn't have to be that way, and shouldn't.
"Empire of Light" opens in the San Francisco Bay Area on Friday, December 9, 2022.
