Cinema: when Hollywood cultivates its nostalgia for the seventh art

The film empire of light directed by Sam Mendes is released on Wednesday March 1 at the cinema. It takes place in a seaside resort in England at the time of Margaret Thatcher, and tells the story of Hillary, a totally depressed 50-year-old who dispassionately watches over an old cinema. The arrival of a young black employee will turn his life upside down. Thanks to him, she will love again, and see films that will re-enchant her daily life.

“Pay homage to the magic of the room”

A story inspired to the director by the mental illness of his own mother. As a child, he found refuge in cinemas, of which he still has nostalgia. “I wanted to pay tribute to the magic of the room: the atmosphere, the film, the projectionist. All these people who participated in this unique show“, says Sam Mendes, director of the film. In his autobiographical film titled Tea FabelmansSteven Spielberg is also nostalgic for the 7th art. If the filmmakers look so much in the retro, it is because during the confinement, the studios stopped and the closed rooms made them fear the worst. So, it’s the directors’ turn to imagine a cinema that will know how to reinvent itself.