Olivia Colman

Micheal Ward

Toby Jones

Colin Firth

Tom Brooke

Tanya Moodie

Hannah Onslow

Crystal Clarke

Monica Dolan

Ron Cook

Sara Stewart

Justin Edwards

Roman Hayeck-Green

Brian Fletcher

Dougie Boyall

William Chubb

Spike Leighton

Jacob Avery

Jamie Whitelaw

Dylan Blore

Adrian McLoughlin

D.J. Bailey

Tom Colley

Mark Goldthorp

Rod Arthur

Mark Field

Tim Samuels

Dawn Murphy

Ashleigh Reynolds

George Whitehead

Sam Boskovic

Mark Collier

Caroline Glass

Eliza Glock

George Greenland

Sam Mendes

Pippa Harris

Roger Deakins

Julie Pastor

David Greenbaum

Tim Devine

Lorenzo Bertolazzi

Hayley Saywell

Michael Lerman

Lola Oliyide

Nina Gold

Lee Smith

Mark Tildesley

Virginia Reina

Cristina Pagani

James Slattery

Gemma Bourne

Richard Cheal

Chris Thompson

Nicholas Milligan

Will Nairne

Neal Callow

Nicoletta Mani

Sara Kramer

Terry Robb

Philippa Bruges

Kamlan Man

Aston Davies

Andrew Richards

Tim Powell

Lawrence Rowe

Rosalind Grégoire

Celia Duval

Ben Gerry

Jodie-Simone Howe

Audrey Amankwa

Gary Smith

John Higgins

Rachael Tate

Galo Dominguez

Sean Malski

Paul Hymns

Tom Neale

Jessica Saabor

Alexandra Byrne

Laura Smith

Dave Gray

Doron Levi

Richard Wild

Louis Clark

Robert Jackson

Eleanor Boyce

Matthew Greenfield

Pearce Roemer

Brett Rayner

Ben Cooke

Parisa Taghizadeh

John Gomez

Ita O'Brien

Jeremy Chi-Hang Au

Jago Sharkey

Cassandra Eiler

Ellie Fenn

Monique Mussell

Dean Thomas

Jonathan Ames

Harriet Wilkins

Izzy Morreale

Jackson Soar

Matilda Beard

Ronan Kennedy

Chris Kitisakkul

Emily Grace Kirby

Monaya Abel

Iona Young

Mustafa Tyebkhan

Adam Smart

Augustin Dukes

Jamie Field

Malcolm Pearce

Beth Kendrick

Jessica Miles

Sam Neale

India Ayles

Nathan Carson

Isabel Fewing

Gary Hymns

Lauren Beacham

Rebecca Cronshey

Wabriya King

Charlie Cobb

Erin Coutts

Darren Helman

Hedge Seel

Milly White

Marc Aubert

Drama

Romance

Empire of Light

Searchlight Pictures

Neal Street Productions

TSG Entertainment

United Kingdom

United States of America

English

Español

england

love

interracial relationship

racism

mental illness

projectionist

seaside town

1980s

lost soul

race relations

movie theater

Manuel São Bento

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://www.msbreviews.com/movie-reviews/empire-of-light-spoiler-free-review-lff-2022

"Empire of Light works best as a love letter to the art of filmmaking and the theater experience. Brilliant performances. Astonishing to behold. Emotional to listen to - score is the technical highlight. Not so captivating narratively, considering that Sam Mendes' first solo script lacks depth in the most important themes.

It's a beautiful tribute to the magic of cinema that cinephiles will enjoy, but for viewers less passionate about the 7th art, it might be difficult to genuinely care."

Rating: B-

CinemaSerf

"Hilary" (Olivia Colman) is the shift leader at a grand old cinema living a routine life and largely just going through the motions each day. When the young "Stephen" (a strong and engaging performance from Micheal Ward) arrives, she takes him on a tour of the building and that takes them to the upper echelons of the building - now disused - where they discover an injured pigeon. They also discover something else, and soon are having bit of a clandestine affair. Thing is, she's also having one of those with her boss "Ellis" (Colin Firth) and keeping secrets amongst her small team isn't the easiest! Things come to an head, however, when some fascist thugs are marauding down the local esplanade and they see the young man through the locked doors. Soon, he is in hospital and everyone is having to re-evaluate their relationships and priorities - and it's at this point that "Hilary" comes off the rails a little. Years of resentment and frustration - coupled with a bit of booze - all come to the fore just as her young friend comes to some conclusions about his own future too! Toby Jones is wonderful here as the projectionist, allowing the intensity of the personal stories to be diffused with a nostalgic look back at just how (even as recently as the 1980s) films were synched from a series of projectors, with cue dots and played from reels. He ("Norman") even demonstrates to the enthusiastic young "Stephen" as we go. The themes of racism, tolerance, ageism and ignorance are never far from the surface, though, and essentially this film is a cleverly nuanced piece of drama that uses a cinema - itself a conduit for so many different aspects of human life and behaviour - to serve as the focus for a brief observation of two lives that overlap for a while. It does have some sentiment to it - but for me that was about the old days of cinema gone by; otherwise this is a complex and thought-provoking look at life in Mrs. Thatcher's Britain long before she had had any real chance to mould it...

“A Deeply Personal Story” Featurette

Official UK Trailer

“Beach” Clip

'EMPIRE OF LIGHT' with Olivia Colman, Sam Mendes & more filmmakers | Academy Conversations

“Illusion of Life” Clip

“You Have To Go Out and Get It” Clip

“You Need Serious Help” Clip

Featurette

UK Cinema Heroes

"Fishing" Clip

Official Trailer

Sam Mendes introduces Empire of Light at BFI London Film Festival 2022

Colin Firth, Olivia Colman and Micheal Ward shine on the Empire of Light red carpet at LFF 2022

Official Teaser Trailer

Empire of Light( 2022)

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A review by Manuel São Bento

Written by Manuel São Bento on Sun Oct 23 2022

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