Empire of the Sun

In the winter of 1941, amid Japan's invasion of China during World War II, Jamie Graham is a British upper class schoolboy enjoying a privileged life in the Shanghai International Settlement. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan begins occupying the settlement. As the Graham family evacuate the city, Jamie is separated from his parents and makes his way back to their house, assuming they will return. After a length of time alone and having eaten the remaining food, he ventures back into the city. Hungry, Jamie tries surrendering to Japanese soldiers, who ignore him. After being chased by a street urchin, he is taken in by two American expatriates and hustlers, Basie and Frank. Basie decides he should be called "Jim". Unable to sell Jim, they intend to abandon him in the streets, but he offers to lead them to his neighborhood to loot the empty houses there. He is surprised to see lights on in his family home and thinks his parents have returned, only to discover that the house is occupied by Japanese troops. The trio are taken prisoner, transported to the Lunghua Civilian Assembly Centre in Shanghai for processing, and sent to an internment camp in Suzhou. In mid 1945, near the end of the Pacific War and World War II, and despite the terror and poor living conditions of the camp, Jim survives by establishing a trading network, which even involves Sergeant Nagata, the camp's commander. Dr. Rawlins, the camp's British doctor, becomes a father figure and teacher to Jim. One night after a bombing raid, Nagata orders the destruction of the prisoners' infirmary as a reprisal but stops when Jim begs forgiveness. Through the barbed wire fencing, Jim befriends a teenage Japanese trainee pilot. Jim attempts to prevent being discovered by a Japanese guard by crawling through reeds and mud while staying low to evade him. Basie alongside many other Western prisoners observe from inside a nearby building, as the other prisoners make bets with Basie against Jim's chances of survival, while Basie alone bets on his success. The trainee observes, and succeeds in leading the guard away from Jim by yelling out to misguide him. Nagata enters the barracks, discovering disorder and theft in Basie's corner; Jim instructs Basie to beg for forgiveness, which he attempts but is unsuccessful and subsequently assaulted by Nagata. While recovering, Basie bonds closer with Jim, telling him of the dangers that exist where they are. One morning, the base is attacked by American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft. Jim is overjoyed and climbs the ruins of a nearby pagoda to better watch the action. Rawlins chases him up the pagoda to save him, whereupon Jim breaks down in tears, saying he cannot remember what his parents look like. As a result of the attack, the Japanese evacuate the camp. As they leave, Jim's trainee pilot friend goes through the ritual kamikaze preparation and attempts to take off in a Japanese attack plane, but is devastated when the engine sputters and dies. The camp prisoners march through the wilderness, where many die from fatigue, starvation, and disease. Jim stops by Basie's barracks, learning from Frank that he and Dainty have already departed, leaving him and Jim behind without a goodbye. Arriving at the Nantao Stadium near Nantong, where many of the Shanghai inhabitants' possessions have been stored by the Japanese, Jim recognizes his parents' Packard car. He spends the night there with Mrs. Victor, a fellow prisoner who looked after him at the Suzhou camp, who dies shortly thereafter, and witnesses flashes from the atomic bombing of Nagasaki hundreds of miles away. Jim wanders back to the Suzhou camp. Along the way, he hears news of Japan's surrender and the war's end. He is reunited with the now-disillusioned Japanese teenage pilot, who remembers Jim and offers him a mango, drawing his guntō to cut it. Basie appears with a group of armed Americans to loot the Red Cross containers being airdropped over the area. One of the Americans, thinking Jim is in danger, shoots and kills the Japanese pilot. Basie offers to have Jim come along with them, but he chooses to stay behind. He is later found by American soldiers and placed in a Red Cross shelter, where he is reunited with his parents, though, it seems he does not entirely recognize them.