Expert: Mel - 12/1/2008

Question
Hi Mel.
I am trying to find a film which I believed to be called 'The land of the rising sun', however I can find no trace of it!
The film was set in Japan at the outbreak of ww2. A well to do British couple try to escape with their young son. The boy becomes separated from his parents and the film traces the boy through the horrors of the p.o.w camps and his underlying allegience to japan as it is all he has ever known.
I watched this film a couple of times in 1993 and dont believe it was made much before then.
I hope you can help me as no one seems to know what I'm talking about!
Thank you.
Naomi

Answer
Hello Naomi,

I think you are referring to the 1987 film, "Empire Of The Sun". Directed by Steven Spielberg and starring a young Christian Bale, it told the story of a young English boy who is seperated from his family when the Japanese invade Shanghai in the early part of World War II. Reduced to living on the streets and fighting for food, the boy is eventually interned in a Japanese POW camp for British civilians. Here, admiration quickly develops both for captured American pilots and the Japanese themselves. When the war ends, the boy torn from everything he knew attempts to again find his parents.

Here's a link.......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_the_Sun_(film)


Glad to be of help. Cheers........Mel.