Spielberg was keen to ground his film in the environment in which it was set, and so it was that Empire Of The Sun became the first American film to shoot inside Shanghai since the Second World War itself.
Spielberg and his crew reportedly negotiated with Shanghai Film Studios and China Film Co-Production Corporation for an entire year before permission was finally granted.
However, once Spielberg and co. were allowed into the city, they found their hosts exceedingly helpful.
Whole blocks of the city were closed down for filming, while thousands of local residents signed up to appear as extras.
Even the People’s Liberation Army appeared in the film as the occupying Japanese soldiers.
Spielberg was keen to keep Ballard involved in proceedings, even granting him a cameo as a guest at the film’s opening fancy-dress party.
The author also accompanied the group to Shanghai, where he discovered that his memories of the place were as accurate as ever.
“Curiously, my original memories of Shanghai still seemed intact,” recalled the author, “and even survived a return trip to Shanghai, where I found our house in Amherst Avenue and our room in Lunghua camp - now a boarding school - virtually unchanged.”
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Comments
Jareth64
Oct 18th 2012, 11:04
It's a forgotten gem. A brilliant film.
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kittycati
Oct 18th 2012, 11:24
I remember seeing this movie as a child...it still loved it the next time I watched it as an adult 20 years later. Not many films can do that.
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SiMan
Oct 18th 2012, 12:27
Watched it a few years back and although i remember liking it, i have to say it didn't leave much of an impact with me. Can't remember much from it. Think i'll have to give it another go soon.
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licantro
Oct 18th 2012, 13:17
This was the film that introduced me to Drama for the first time when I was just a kid, a step in growing up and because of that I remember it fondly. The way it was filmed and the way it was told it was captivating and shockingly emotional. Being 12 years old and now 35 probably helped me to understand it better since the view of war was through the eyes of also a kid, who now is such a prominent actor, Christian Bale. It's so amusing to see how Spielberg has always been so good storytelling from a kids points of view. An amazing film.
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Hadouken76
Oct 18th 2012, 18:08
Another Spielberg and Bale film please.
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