Movie Review: Empire of Light

 

Michael’s Movie Grade: B

A very heartfelt film. 

For people like me who practically live at the movie theater sometimes, the highlight of this film is how beautiful its love of movies and movie theaters is. You can see the passion director/writer Sam Mendes has for movies in many scenes and these scenes are truly wonderful. Sometimes this film pays tribute to the cinema through monologues. While I am not always the biggest fan of characters speaking in monologues, these are very well written monologues that make you realize just how much movies mean to us and the true beauty of seeing them in a theater. This is especially true today, where with the many various different ways to watch a film at home, nothing can ever replace the magic of a movie theater. Yet the best of these cinematic tributes are the scenes that involve two of the characters in the projection booth. These scenes differ from the monologues because they don't rely on dialogue but are instead very visual. This is done without much being said, only the light from the projector and two people being very moved what they are seeing, this is the magic of cinema showing the magic of cinema in the way only it can. Yet this film is not just a tribute to movies, it is mostly a romance story. This romance is handled quite well. Both of the characters are very likable and have great chemistry with each other. You truly get to care about these characters and want to see them get together. While neither one is perfect and they can hurt each other, their faults only make us relate to them and root for them more. Much of this is due to the wonderful performances by Olivia Colman and Michael Ward, who add a lot of charm and little nuances to their characters. Yet it is Toby Jones who steals the show as the theater's projectionist. Simply by watching his performance, you can see the passion this character has for what he does. This film also benefits from a wonderful score by Trent Razor (formerly of the rock band Nine Inch Nails), who keeps proving himself as one of today’s finest composers of movie scores. 

The biggest fault of this film is that it simply tries to be and do too much. This movie tries to be a romance and a tribute to the movies, while also being a commentary on racism, sexism, sexual harassment and mental illness. This is simply more than the movie has time to do. Because of this some of these topics are at the forefront of the action and then pushed to the side or forgotten about. This can give the picture an unfocused feel at times. As well as this many of the side characters can simply come off as bland.   

This movie may have its faults but it can also be really beautiful as well.