Empire of the sun

A 1987 film, Jamie Graham (Christian Bale), a privileged English boy, is living in Shanghai when the Japanese invade and force all foreigners into prison camps. Jamie is captured with an American sailor named Basie (John Malkovich), who looks out for him while they are in the camp together. Even though he is separated from his parents and in a hostile environment, Jamie maintains his dignity and youthful spirits, providing a beacon of hope for the others held captive with him.

Summary

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The story begins in 1941, just prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Jamie Graham is a precocious and privileged boy living with his parents in Shanghai. His father is a rich British businessman and the family lives in a mansion on the outskirts of the city and Jamie attends an exclusive prep school. The family attends a costume ball thrown by one of the father's business associates, Mr. Maxton. While there, Jamie runs off to fly his wooden glider. He finds the wrecked fuselage of a fighter plane near an abandoned airfield. While he plays with the controls, his glider slips out of sight behind a mound. He scrambles up the mound and finds an encampment of Japanese soldiers. While he stares at them, his father and Maxton appear and call him down, specifically telling Jamie not to run. As they walk away and the Japanese soldiers return to their camp, Jamie remarks that they "seem to be waiting for something to happen".

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The family returns to their Shanghai apartment. Early the next morning, Jamie spots a Japanese warship in the harbor communicating with land forces using flashing lights. Jamie begins using his own flashlight from his room when an explosion throws him back from his window. The Japanese move into the city in full force. Jamie's family is able to make it to their limousine but are unable to get very far due to the crowds of people filling the streets. They exit the limo and find themselves crushed and separated among the crowd. Jamie's mother manages to hold on to Jamie when separated from her husband but Jamie lets go of her hand when he drops his toy plane. He sees his mother being helplessly pushed away and she bids him to return to their mansion.

Later on, he was far away from his parents and he led to the Japanese soldiers marching in the road and shouted "I SURRENDER!" The Japanese soldiers ignored him and just pushed him out of the way. He still exclaimed "PLEASE I SURRENDER!" He still got ignored. He doesn't know where to go...

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He went to the mansion and finds the house empty. He found his servants stealing all the expensive stuff and furnitures. He asked them why they are stealing his family's stuff, his maid who treated him badly over the past years, calmly walked to him a slapped then leave. He stayed in the mansion for a month eating all the food he can find. There was no water and the pool was empty.

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A homeless Chinese boy notices Jamie and tries to call him over Jamie refuses and runs through the streets and back alleys, people ignoring his cries for help. The Chinese boy catches and beats him, taking whatever Jamie has on him. Jamie manages to break free and runs into the street, nearly being hit by a truck. The truck's driver, Frank, scares Jamie's tormentor off and takes Jamie with him to an abandoned freighter where Frank's friend, Basie, is cooking rice. Basie deftly searches Jamie for anything of value, taking Jamie's aviator sunglasses and a British crown coin he'd found in the swimming pool. He also gives Jamie a new name, "Jim and coldly serves Jamie Frank's share of the rice he'd made. 

The next day Frank and Basie set about trying to "sell" Jim to anyone who needs a manual laborer. When they're unable to sell Jim they decide to leave him to the streets as an orphan. Jim pleads with them to let him stay, even offering them the pickings of rich houses in his old neighborhood outside the city. The three travel to Jim's old house where the lights are on and music, Jim's mother's favorite tune, can be heard. However, the house has been seized by the Japanese, who march out immediately and capture all three. As Jim is held back, Basie is severely beaten.

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One day, when the Japanese come to select prisoners for transport to an official camp, Basie is chosen, who boards the truck and ignores Jim's pleas to take him along Jim begs the driver to take him along and finds that the driver is unsure of the route to the camp. Jim assures the driver that he can guide them to the camp, which is near his parents' old country club. The truck driver throws the annoying Jirm into the truck and they leave. 

The truck arrives at Soochow Creek Interment camp, which is situated right next to an airbase construction site. As the prisoners get off the truck they are ordered to carry white stones up to the spot where a runway is being laid Jim breaks off from the group, seeing a work area for Japanese Zero airplanes. As he touches one of them, a guard, Nagata, prepares to shoot him. A group of three Japanese pilots approaches and Jamie salutes them. Nagata lowers his rifle when the pilots return Jamie's salute.

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The story jumps ahead to the Summer of 1945, near the end of the war. They were send to a camp. The camp is evacuated by Nagata. The prisoners are told that there will be food waiting for them further inland and a march is quickly started. As they leave, Jim sees the young Japanese boy he'd befriended through the camp wire taking the ceremonial drink of the kamikaze pilots. The boy jumps into his plane but cannot take off because the plane refuses to fire up.

The group reaches Nantao Stadium, many miles away, where the Japanese spoils from Shanghai are stored. Among the automobiles there, Jim finds his father's old limo. After being told that there's no food or water there, Jim stays behind with Mrs. Victor, a woman who acted as a guardian to Jim back in Soochow. Jim tells her to act dead so they can stay, however, Mrs. Victor actually dies. As a devastated Jim sits with her body, he sees a gigantic flash of light to the east, one of the atomic bombs dropped by the United States on Japan. Jim believes it is Mrs. Victor's ascending soul, however, he hears a radio broadcast later that reports about the new weapon and the surrender of the Japanese Empire, ending the war

As the starving and weakened Jim staggers back to Soochow he notices large canisters falling from the sky on parachutes. They are from the Red Cross and contain food and other supplies. Jim gathers what he can and returns to the prison camp. There he finds the young Japanese boy from the airbase, who is angrily slashing at the marsh with his samurai sword. Recognizing Jim, he stumbles away crying. Jim hears an engine revving and sees a car break through a wall of fire. In the car are Basie and a couple of other men he'd joined up with who are looting the relief containers. The Japanese boy offers Jim a mango and is about to help Jim cut it with his katana when he is shot by one of Basie's companions. As the man rushes over Jim flips him into the marsh and leaps on him, 1, wildly punching him. Basie pulls Jim off, who turns his attention to the Japanese boy. He tries to revive him using CPR but the boy is clearly dead and Basie again pulls Jim off. As he tries to soothe Jim, Jim pulls away, a crazed look in his eye; Jim's experiences during the war of stealing, death and fear have finally pushed him onto the path to adulthood. Basie decides to leave Jim behind, knowing Jim will survive, Jim stays in the camp a bit longer, riding a bike like he did in childhood and laughing. He is found by a U.S. Army unit, to whom he "surrenders".

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Jim returns to Shanghai and is housed in an orphanage for child war prisoners. The kids are assembled by the nuns for a group of parents who have returned to Shanghai following the war, Jim's parents are among them. They wade through the sea of children, not able to find Jim at first, but spot him after a few moments. Jim, scarred from his experiences and still in shock, doesn't believe his own eyes as he recognizes his mother by her face and hair and eventually collapses in her loving arms.

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Krystell Kenzie Q. Salcedo