What's this WWII drama: young boy, loses parents in large crowd at night
04-23-04, 10:12 PM
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What's this WWII drama: young boy, loses parents in large crowd at night
The last time I saw this film was around the mid 80's.
The boy (about 4-12 years old) lives in a rich townhouse. He's trying to get to sleep and sees a light flickering through the window. About 50-100 yards away he sees the light flicker in a morse code type fashion. He takes a flashlight from his room and starts to flicker back at the light having some fun. Seconds later, his neighborhood is bombed/invaded by enemy forces.
His parents rush in his room and they all rush outside to escape/evacuate. There's a huge crowd swelling trying to escape. There's such a large crowd that the boy loses the grip of his mother's hand and is lost.
This film focused on the kid and his journey. I'm pretty sure it appeared on HBO.
That's all I remember.
I thought it was Hope and Glory, but that's not it. I also think it could be Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun. IMDB has the following description:
"Based on J. G. Ballard's autobiographical novel, tells the story of a boy, James Graham, whose privileged life is upturned by the Japanese invasion of Shanghai, December 8, 1941. Separated from his parents, he is eventually captured, and taken to Soo Chow confinement camp, next to a captured Chinese airfield..."
and
"An aristocratic British youth is seperated from his family at the start of World War II after the Japanese Army invades British controlled areas of China..."
This sounds very close to what I'm thinking, but can anyone definitively confirm this is the movie based on the scene description I provided?
The boy (about 4-12 years old) lives in a rich townhouse. He's trying to get to sleep and sees a light flickering through the window. About 50-100 yards away he sees the light flicker in a morse code type fashion. He takes a flashlight from his room and starts to flicker back at the light having some fun. Seconds later, his neighborhood is bombed/invaded by enemy forces.
His parents rush in his room and they all rush outside to escape/evacuate. There's a huge crowd swelling trying to escape. There's such a large crowd that the boy loses the grip of his mother's hand and is lost.
This film focused on the kid and his journey. I'm pretty sure it appeared on HBO.
That's all I remember.
I thought it was Hope and Glory, but that's not it. I also think it could be Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun. IMDB has the following description:
"Based on J. G. Ballard's autobiographical novel, tells the story of a boy, James Graham, whose privileged life is upturned by the Japanese invasion of Shanghai, December 8, 1941. Separated from his parents, he is eventually captured, and taken to Soo Chow confinement camp, next to a captured Chinese airfield..."
and
"An aristocratic British youth is seperated from his family at the start of World War II after the Japanese Army invades British controlled areas of China..."
This sounds very close to what I'm thinking, but can anyone definitively confirm this is the movie based on the scene description I provided?
Last edited by cupon; 04-23-04 at 10:16 PM.
04-23-04, 10:25 PM
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I don't remember the light flickering scene (it's been a while since I saw the movie), but you describe how Jim gets separated from his parents pretty well, so I think it is Empire of the Sun you're thinking about.
04-24-04, 12:58 PM
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Originally posted by eedoon
Empire of the Sun has the light flickering scene. And your description about how the boy lost his mother's hand fits to the movie.
Empire of the Sun has the light flickering scene. And your description about how the boy lost his mother's hand fits to the movie.
