Hilary, the heroine of the film Empire of Light (The Empire of Light), manages a cinema located by the sea, in a seaside town. However obvious, the ambient dilapidation has not yet completely dissipated the quaint charm of the old Art Deco establishment. Likewise, a diagnosis of bipolar disorder and a frustrating relationship situation didn’t completely disenchant Hilary. As proof, when Stephen, a young and handsome new employee, takes an interest in her, here she recovers desire and joie de vivre. Alas, in 1981, in Thatcher’s England, a romantic relationship between a white woman in her forties and a black man in her twenties hardly worked.
First film written in solo by the distinguished filmmaker Sam Mendes, the man behind in particular American Beauty (American beauty ; Academy Award for Best Director), Road to Perdition (The road to perdition), Sky Fall and 1917, Empire of Light first worth watching for Olivia Colman’s electrifying performance. She who has already amazed us repeatedly, the winner of an Oscar for The Favorite (The favorite), later named for The Lost Daughter (The stolen doll) and The Father (The father), surpasses itself.
Indeed, in addition to the fact that she depicts bipolar disorder with infinite accuracy and acuity, Olivia Colman offers a composition that is both luminous and heartbreaking.
Partly inspired by the director’s mother, Hilary is a character of complexity and paradox. For example, although she spends half of her life in a cinema, Hilary confides that she never watches films (we suspect that she will change her mind).
A shape in tune
In its formal dimension, the film is also in tune with Hilary, whom we meet initially extinct because of the lithium that she must now take. Even among her colleagues or with her married boss, with whom she sleeps from time to time out of spite, Hilary seems alone… In the background, it is the off-season, gray and cold, in the city deserted by tourists. In the direction of photography, the master Roger Deakins (1917Oscar for blade runner 2049) therefore multiplies the pale shades by voluntarily isolating the protagonist in the frame.
The arrival of Stephen, her young opposite quick to wonder, will bring Hilary out of a torpor as physical as psychological. At least, for a time, an uninhibited racism raging in the streets. And Roger Deakins’ palette to also revive, too, for a time.
Always on the visual front, the realization of Sam Mendes is typically neat; perhaps more intimate than his last large-scale productions. Normal, given the personal nature of this project.
In this regard, Empire of Light wants several things at the same time. A love letter from the filmmaker to his mother, whom he told us in an interview that he saw his childhood “heroically fight against bipolarity” while raising him… A reminder that the hatred and violence of yesterday, which have marked the teenage filmmaker, are attempting a comeback today… An ode to the magic of 7e art… Extensive program, perhaps too much, however sincere the approach.
During the screening at TIFF, Sam Mendes explained: “We live in extremely cynical times, and this film is absolutely not cynical. »
Nevertheless, if these different parts are individually carriers, their sum sometimes lacks cohesion. In this charged context, the love story, however central, suffers a bit.
Charismatic Michael Ward
Fortunately, the performers are there to catch up. Facing Olivia Colman, Michael Ward, who was already brilliant in Lovers Rockone of the components of the formidable pentalogy small axisof Steve McQueen, is fabulous of ease and charisma.
Veterans Toby Jones, as an observant projectionist, and Colin Firth, as a bastard and pathetic boss, are not to be outdone.
Eventually, Empire of Light is not the great film hoped for, but it is a good one, sometimes a very good one. That, and at the risk of insisting, a lot thanks to its star. Yes, the magic of cinema exists, and in this case, it is Olivia Colman who holds the wand.