As Sam Mendes' second produced screenplay, he dives into the nostalgia of his formative years.
As he comes of age, he draws on music, movies, and politics in Empire of Light.
Movies that shape memories, not cinema with a capital "C.".
It's a handsome film set mostly in a vintage movie palace on England's southeast coast.
Her performance as the troubled and dazzlingly resilient theater manager is one of her strongest.
On the marquee of the Empire, a seafront movie theater, are The Blues Brothers and All That Jazz.
The filmmakers revived a derelict cinema in Margate with Mark Tildesley's production design.
Mendes' symmetrical compositions are enhanced by Roger Deakins' elegant geometry.