Empire of Light

Sam Mendes' own tribute to cinema, this had all of the bits that you would hope for in a homage to cinema of his youth, and with clear tributes to Cinema Paradiso amongst others, and so it was a lovely trip down memory lane for me.   Empire of Light is set in 1980-81 in a seafront cinema in Margate and focuses on Hilary (Olivia Coleman) the deputy cinema manager, who clearly has a challenging past, and her relationship with new colleague Steve (Micheal Ward).  Anyone who was around in that period will remember the air of faded glamour, and glory days long past that hung around cinemas in that period.   I was an usherette in the Barking Odeon between 1978 and 1980, and so I spent my time at the cinema yesterday in a little haze of nostalgia, from the empty and dusty function rooms full of stacked chairs, and the feel of the empty place when there were no customers,  to the sweet stand at the front, and the meticulous collection and audit of the tickets.  Although in my case we had to thread the half  of the ticket onto a string which, if I was able to spend the whole time 'supervising' the screen, I would spin around in ever more interesting patterns in the dark - there's only so many times you can watch a film in a week , even if you are being paid to do it, before you try to find other things to do.   

In the second half of the movie we spend more time with Norman the projectionist (Toby Jones) who didn't look much like the projectionists I may have happened to date during that period, but the bits in the projection room took me back , including the big machines that churn out that amazing stream of light, and all of the technicalities of getting the reels to synchronise so that the whole film was magically seamless.  In my teenage years I also operated the projectors for various film nights and well remember synchronising the two machines, counting down the seconds from the little flash on the end of one reel, and getting the other one fired up to take over at the right moment.   No need for that now with digital film...  So lots of nostalgia for me before we even started on the music (The Specials, Ska, Rude boys mixed with Bob Dylan) but also the racism, Brixton riots, general public squalor and seediness of the early Thatcher years. The film choices felt spot on too.  

The actual film despite its high ambitions is a bit messy in terms of structure and writing,  and is probably a bit self indulgent, but overall, it looks absolutely beautiful thanks to cinematographer Roger Deakin.  The cultural references are pretty spot on, and the performances from all of the leads are impressive and moving.   Olivia Coleman's Hilary is both fragile and indefatigable; I loved her uncovering of what lay beneath the exterior, coming through in flashes. I particularly enjoyed her set piece in the foyer on the gala night.  Micheal Ward had the right mix of vulnerability and determination of youth and there is great chemistry between both leads.  In fact the whole cast manage to create the sense of cameraderie, warmth and family that you get with a small group of people working together, despite the dodgy management (a seedy Colin Firth).  

Some reviews have been a bit unfairly scratchy about the film in my opinion.  It's not perfect, but this is lovely - a bit sentimental but not the worse for that.   I had a great time and continue to be in love with Olivia Coleman