A lucid view of a woman in battle

There are films that link the demise of cinema—and the consequent death of its complex ritual of light and shadow—to the extinction of an era and the fatal mental wound of its characters. It is inevitable to think about it The last movie, Splendor or Cinema Paradisolooking at the protagonist kingdom of light, in charge of the temple—a large cinema, those that are no longer there—, keeper of the sacred fire, suffers from loneliness, heartbreak, depression and schizophrenia as the decay of the dream house where she worked for 25 years progresses. She recites TS Eliot’s poem: “This is how the world ends, not with a bang, but with a whimper.”

Sam Mendes — like Spielberg from The Fabelmans— tells the story of her youth, based on a strong female portrait, paying tribute to her mother. We are in the last days of 1980 and the first days of 1981, in the tense, racist and classist England of Margaret Thatcher. On the south coast, overlooking the North Sea, the once opulent Empire cinema survives the storms of history. A very down-to-earth Olivia Colman stands out, in a role that reminds others of her career — before she became popular Crown or with Father—, passionate heroine tamed by lithium; he is the embodiment of touching gestural diversity, spiraling sadness, desperate elation, gluttony and apathy. And the little great secondary Toby Jones also shines, like a cinematographer explaining a craft that is pure liturgy and has already lost the sense of craftsmanship: “These are coals, their spark produces light, and without light there is only darkness.”

The film, interspersed with some useless interludes of unqualified secondary stories, nevertheless captures a beautiful patina of twilight melancholy — enhanced by Roger Deakins’ photography, clearly inspired by Edward Hooper — that will keep it alive in our memories.

“EMPIRE OF LIGHT”

United Kingdom-United States, 2022.

Director: Sam Mendes.

Cast: Olivia Colman, Micheal Ward, Colin Firth, Toby Jones, Tom Brooke, Tanya Moodie, Hannah Onslow, Crystal Clarke, Sara Stewart, Justin Edwards, Monica Dolan.

Drama. 115 minutes.