3. Empire Of Light; movie review

EMPIRE OF LIGHT

Cert 15

115 mins

BBFC advice: Contains racism, strong language, sex

Rose-tinted spectacles are wonderful.

When the lead singer of The Specials Terry Hall died a couple of weeks ago, I was among those taken along on the wave of nostalgia and what I recalled as the great times of my youth.

But the truth was that 2-Tone wasn't just music - it was a movement against the racism which was rife in England at the beginning of the 1980s.

And the type of verbal and physical violence meted out to the character Stephen in Empire Of Light was the rule rather than the exception.

Stephen, (Micheal Ward), a lover of 2-Tone, is a genuine and decent guy but finds himself constantly on the end of racial taunts or worse.

He alights upon a degree of happiness after joining the staff of the Empire Cinema which, despite seeing better days, is lovingly maintained by its loyal staff.

These include duty manager, Hilary (Olivia Colman), projectionist Norman (Toby Jones) and their boss (Colin Firth).

The day-to-day running of the cinema is the backdrop to Sam Mendes' movie which is part love-letter to the old-fashioned picture houses.

But its more serious double-pronged tangents are the aforementioned racial discontent and the severe mental illness suffered by Hilary.

She is an intensely complex character, portrayed with supreme nuance by Colman. It is a tour de force from one of our greatest actresses.

She is complemented affectionately by Ward whose Stephen refuses to allow his optimism to be dented by the racist meatheads.

I have to admit that I thought Empire Of Light was a little slow while it settled into its groove during the first hour but, thereafter, it really hit the mark despite trying to attack three very different subjects at the same time.

I suspect older folk may rate it higher than younger ones but I am one of the former, so am pleased to give it my approval.

Reasons to watch: Olivia Colman is unmissable

Reasons to avoid: Slow first hour

Laughs: One

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: Bare bum

Overall rating: 8.5/10

Did you know? Cinema admissions in 1981 were 86m - less than half 2019's 176.1m

The final word. Sam Mendes: "In the middle of lockdown there was a racial reckoning in the world. We were left alone to contemplate how our own racial politics had been formed and whether we had fallen down in our attempts to make sure the world was evolving. When I wrote the movie there was also another common obsession: we were all worried whether the cinema was going to die, along with live performances. So, all of those things have gone into this movie, and in that regard, it’s quite raw."

 

Share this post