Empire of Light sees Micheal Ward and Olivia Colman coming together under the banner of a Sam Mendes film. Sadly though, this movie will have proved underwhelming in comparison to a lot of lofty expectations.
★★★✰✰
Two of this year’s early cinematic headliners are in some way, an ode to cinema. Empire of Light focuses on the beauty of a smaller cinema and the potential it has, whilst The Fabelmans showcases a young Spielberg’s journey in the world of film.
The former is the film under the microscope here, and it tells a very different story to the one depicted in the trailer. Beyond the cinema, there is a love story like no other. Stephen (Micheal Ward), a young Black man having to deal with fierce racism in the 1980s, forms an unexpected bond with Hilary (Olivia Colman), an older woman who is struggling with her mental health.
Their relationship grows with the help of music and cinema, the pair teaching each other about how they interpret and enjoy these two art forms. Many themes and issues are addressed, primarily through these two main characters, but they are dealt with in a hurried fashion.
Sam Mendes is a hugely esteemed director, having put out excellent pieces of work including American Beauty, Skyfall and 1917. Empire of Light is unique in that it is his first time directing a screenplay that he has also written—and the script is where the issues begin.
The concept of the film is sound enough and the acting is exemplary at times, but it tells an incomplete story. It pings from one idea to another without fully covering any of them. Ward’s character deals with racism whilst Colman’s character is clearly going through a rollercoaster of mental health struggles, but despite the development of their relationship, they never fully reveal these issues to one another.
The acting certainly can’t be faulted, with both Micheal Ward and Olivia Colman hammering home their emotions excellently in the lead roles. Toby Jones plays the smaller role of Norman, a dedicated and integral member of the cinema crew whose relationship with Stephen is hugely underrated and could be touched on more.
The final half an hour or so of Empire of Light is a hugely poignant display and really allows the acting to come to the fore. Love isn’t an easy process, and that is reflected by what we see between Hilary and Stephen.
The Verdict
Mendes’ idea is sound enough, and shows that he has a clear eye for what works on the big screen. However, his script is flawed, leaving the film unable to live up to his other works in the last two decades. Better execution could have made this an instant hit given the beauty of the scenery and the magic of the cast. All in all, Empire of Light is good, but not good enough relative to expectations.
Words by Jamie Rooke
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