This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
War Orphan
Plot Overview
After their attack on Pearl Harbor,
the Japanese invade Shanghai forcing the British residents to flee
if they can. An English boy of nine, Jamie “Jim” Graham
(Christian Bale) aka Ace,
gets left behind and must scrounge for himself in a city racked
by turmoil once his home runs out of food. He fortunately latches
onto the coattails of an American, “a survivor,” Basie (John
Malkovich) by offering a quid pro quo of inside info where the rich
abandoned houses are. The Japanese got there first, so that didn't
work out well for the yanks.
They are taken for processing to the Lunghua Civilian Assembly Center in Shanghai (“a pit”) and then to Soochow Creek Internment Camp where life is a “country club” relatively speaking. The movie skips ahead till 1945 when the atom bomb is dropped on Japan, and then there's another mad scramble that a now acclimated Ace must face.
Ideology
Let's look at the words of a mysterious Agur a member of the North Arabian tribe of Massa, which were appended to the Proverbs of Solomon, preserved by the Jews in their Tanakh, appropriated by Christians in their Bible, and eventually sneaked into movies subject to my reviews. (Prov. 30:1) “The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, even the prophecy: the man spake unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal.”
(Prov. 30:2-3)
“Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the
understanding of a man. I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge
of the holy.” That pretty much describes the idiot kid Jamie starting
out. His mind wanders when singing a solo in the church choir, and he lets
go of his mom's hand in a crowd to retrieve a dropped toy. Brother!
(Prov. 30:4) “Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?” His ignorance is contrasted here in scripture with the great unknowable Jehovah. In the movie it's contrasted with a super weapon the atom bomb seen exploded in the distance. Jim, “Learned a new word today. Atom bomb. It was like God taking a photograph.”
(Prov. 30:5-6) “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” In “Empire” is found applied two expressions that can be derived from the word of God, but as they are not exact quotes one must be careful in their application. Jamie tells his father John Graham (Rupert Frazer,) “We're awfully lucky, aren't we? living here, having everything.” His dad replies yeah, “The harder I work the luckier we get.” Here's an example of, ‘God helps those who help themselves.’ But when Jamie peddles his bike furiously trying to catch the lorry spiriting away refuges, he's not “lucky” enough to catch them no matter how hard he tries. Later when Jim is being hunted outside the wire by camp leader Sergeant Nagata, his luck is about to run out until his buddy distracts the hunter. The punctiliously clean Japanese taking his bath reminds us that cleanliness is next to godliness (Psalm 18:20,) but Jim had to camouflage his face with mud to go hunting pheasant for Thanksgiving.
(Prov. 30:7-9) “Two things have I required
of thee; deny me them not before I die: Remove far from me vanity
and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient
for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the lord? or lest I be poor,
and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.” Early in the
picture Ace is seen at a lavish costume party thrown by
Mr. Lockwood (Robert Stephens,) indulging himself in
delicacies from a spread table, dressed as Sinbad the Sailor, and
holding forth that “I've become an atheist,” as if he's some magical
being who doesn't need God. Later in captivity he learns that “people will do anything
... for a potato.” They forget their manners and steal.
He's got to resolve his food supply issue somewhere in the middle.
Production Values
“” (1987) was directed by Steven Spielberg. Its screenplay was written by Tom Stoppard based on a semi-autobiographical novel by J.G. Ballard. It stars Christian Bale, John Malkovich, and Miranda Richardson. Spielberg masterfully brought out the wonder of a child in Bale who gave a most worthy performance. The other performances were pretty good, too. Ben Stiller had a small part in it and also played an uncredited American POW. Christian Bale for what it's worth played a sort of batman—i.e a British military orderly—to of one of them.
This movie is rated PG. A background of parlor music kept it from getting too tense. The spectacular cinematography by Allen Daviau was second to none.
Review Conclusion w/ Christian Recommendation
I found this to be a feel-good movie making me feel good about myself. Not being around children much I appreciated seeing the world through a child's eyes. To be sure, he was a “difficult child” so people up to their eyeballs in children might not find it so appealing. It was a great movie.
Movie Ratings
Action Factor: Weak action scenes. Suitability for children: Suitable for children with guidance. Special effects: Well done special effects. Suspense: Keeps you on the edge of your seat. Video Occasion: Fit For a Friday Evening. Overall movie rating: Four stars out of five.
bibles.n7nz.org