empire of light It harkens back to the first cinematic experience that kept audiences coming back for more. Starring Oscar-winner Olivia Colman, this movie is a moving drama about the power of relationships in very turbulent times.
From an Academy Award-winning director and screenwriter Sam Mendes, empire of light is set in and around a faded old movie theater in a coastal town in England in the early 1980s.
The film follows Hilary (Coleman) and Stephen (Coleman), movie theater managers who struggle with mental health issues.Michael Ward), he is a young recruit desperate to escape a provincial town where he faces emotional abuse, physical abuse, and racism.
Both Hilary and Stephen find a sense of belonging through their unlikely tender relationship and come to experience the healing power of music, movies and community.
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“We were fortunate to be a part of this story, to talk about mental health issues and to look after each other,” Colman said. I really felt them [emotions] When I was watching movies, they really inspired me, so I want to watch a lot of old movies. “
Amazingly moving, Olivia Colman and director Sam Mendes explore the gift of cinema and how it enlightens our lives despite the dark times we often face. Read on to find out how we created the iconic film.
Who is that makeshift family you have become a part of your life?
Olivia Coleman: I think almost every movie or job I do has a part-time, temporary makeshift family and you guys are getting very close. When I was younger, I struggled a lot with having to constantly change, but now I’m better at it.
You will date people you really love. We may not see each other for a few years, but we will definitely be back. When I first started acting, I loved how I felt like I had found my tribe and people I understood and got along with — people I was emotionally available to. So that’s my experience with an ad-hoc family of actors and crew.
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Sam Mendes: Growing up, it was the only real family I knew. Based on the memories I had. Many of my experiences with her are reflected in Hillary’s journey in the film.
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If you look at any of the movies I’ve made, I don’t think there’s actually a functional family in any of them. It wasn’t intentional. Recently, it was pointed out that there is no normal family. In fact, the most wholesome family in some ways is the relationship between Stephen and Delia, Stephen and his mother in this movie.
So the collection of eccentrics in the cinema is very similar to the eccentrics in the theater where I worked.
Michael Ward and Olivia Colman in “Empire of Light”
Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
What are some special movie theaters you’ve been to?
Olivia Coleman: I grew up in Norwich, north of Norfolk. We went to Norwich to see a movie. There was also the Odeon, the Prince of Wales Cinema and the Art Cinema. As a teenager, I discovered art cinema. I was going to go see an artistic film, but I discovered a whole new genre of filmmaking that I didn’t know existed. So it was a big event to travel into town for an hour to see a movie.
Sam Mendes: My first favorite cinema was in Oxford. There was a place called the penultimate Picture Palace and not the Moulin Rouge. They had a rerun house and it was an incredible place to show a movie once and move on to the next. There was a staff of people who spent. Yes I loved those places. they were great.
What was your most memorable movie experience that inspired you to become a filmmaker or actress?
Olivia Coleman: After I decided to become an actress, breaking the waves At the Art Cinema in Bristol when I was a drama student. At that time, I was like, “Ah!” It was so breathtaking. I never wanted to see it again. I was too upset.However Emily Watson blew my mind. So she said, “I want to work like her.”
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Sam Mendes: I have two different parts.nine years old live and die At the Odeon in Camden Town, probably around 1975 or 1976. All black magic and all voodoo probably aren’t held so well in retrospect, but they were thrilling and dangerous and weird and sexy at the time.
So, there was a movie called When I was a student. Paris, Texasto Wim Wenders, and that was the first time I thought I could make a movie. It was the first time I was introduced to the concept of being able to see the modern world as a mythical landscape rather than as a homely little thing.So those two things were probably my pivotal experiences in cinema .
what was so unbearable empire of light Did it make you say so?
Olivia Coleman: Well, I said yes before seeing the script. I can’t imagine many actors saying, “No, I’m not that interested” when talking to Sam Mendes on Zoom in the kitchen. So I said yes, and you told me a little bit about it, right? Then the script came out and I was so excited to say yes because Hillary was a character I had never played before. I thought it was a little scary, but it’s exciting.
Olivia Colman and Michael Ward in “Empire of Light”
Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
During a difficult time, which movie brought you the most comfort while you were watching?
Olivia Coleman: If it’s about comfort, I like children’s movies.i could see Paddington All day, every day. I want a happy ending. Children’s movies always get heartbreaking somewhere in the movie. toy story 3 Heartbreaking. But if you want comfort, you’re thinking of staying at home. Not a movie theater, sorry. For me, it’s all about duvets, tea, and movies for kids.
Sam Mendes: My viewing comfort is, oddly enough, the cinema. I think our minds will soon turn strangely towards a pandemic. So it’s unfortunately not the cinema that has consoled us during the pandemic. As a filmmaker, it always keeps me coming back to the same movie to remind me how to make a movie. Clearly, well, Godfather II I must have seen it dozens of times, and I tend to look at it to remember how.
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The economy of means, the amazing performance, the way you go back in time, the lighting, everything really. Incredible.i.e. both godfather movies, the first two. I find it comforting. Just remembering excellence is calming. So yeah, that’s where I go.
And in New York, I think New York is a dreamscape for many British people. It’s kind of like we grew up dreaming of having some kind of relationship one day.So obviously people like Martin Scorsese When woody allen It made a deep impression on me.
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Michael Ward, director Sam Mendes and Olivia Coleman on the set of ‘Empire of Light’
Parisa Tagizadeh/Searchlight Pictures.
There are several films this year that are love letters to cinema. Is it a reaction to the pandemic, movie theater closures, or streaming expansion? Are we living in an age of nostalgia?
Sam Mendes: I wouldn’t call it nostalgia, but I would call it longing. I think we are trapped. We were robbed of our jobs and for several years unable to define ourselves by what we did for a living. When we reflected on it, we thought we had very few memories, but I think we probably felt that they were gone. Maybe it’s gone.
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Looking back, of course there were vaccinations, but there was no such thing in those nine months. And you won’t even be able to sit in a theater or cinema, ride a bus, or even go to a cafe. And I think that’s what’s behind it. So the filmmakers probably thought how lucky we were to have it and how much we miss it now that it’s gone. incorporated into the film.
Celebration scene of the cast of “Empire of Light”
Parisa Tagizadeh/Searchlight Pictures.
How did you come back to real life after shooting a very emotional scene?
Olivia Coleman: I’m not the takeaway type so it was fine. I want to throw myself in and be as honest and honest as possible at the moment. But I don’t have that problem, so I’m very grateful. It can leave some residue behind, but I haven’t had that issue.
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What life lessons can we learn from this movie?
Olivia Coleman: Life lessons, it’s a hard one. I don’t know, but I think I already agree with a lot of what has been said. Boundaries set by others don’t matter. I agreed that age, skin color, what happened in the 80s, what Sam said was all wrong.
As far as life lessons go, I’ve done a lot of work on this character and seen a lot of movies just from the scripts and things that Steven was interested in. I really need to know what was done for me in order to be able to do what I am doing.
So look at someone like Richard Pryor When Gene Wilder In film, I felt it was very important and helpful to have blacks and whites filmed together in the lead role to allow black actors to lead the story.
empire of lightfrom Searchlight Pictures, hits theaters starting Friday, December 9, 2022.
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