The film has some memorable scenes but tries to do too much, taking on racial and sexual inequality, mental health issues and more
Olivia Colman, Micheal Ward, Tom Brooke, Tanya Moodie, Hannah Onslow, Crystal Clarke, Toby Jones, Colin FirthAmerican Beauty and Skyfall director Sam Mendes has said that his ninth feature as a director was inspired by his mother’s struggle with mental health. Don’t expect a bildungsroman of the. The autobiographical material begins and ends with Hilary Small , a troubled front-of-house manager in a fading cinema in Margate, on the south coast of England, in 1982.
If Mendes had gone the full Fabelmans, as Spielberg has done, Empire of Light might have been a more persuasive piece of cinema. To be fair, it’s well-staffed, heartfelt and beautifully made. Cinematographer Roger Deakins finds extraordinary tableaux in fading art deco interiors and seaside promenades. Colin Firth channels period sleaze as a married predator; Toby Jones is a delight as the kindly projectionist.
Still, the central romance between Hilary and the devastatingly handsome new usher, Stephen, played by Top Boy’s promising star Michael Ward, never rings true. Nor does Hilary’s sudden shock at discovering racism in Margaret Thatcher’s Britain.
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