Synopsis for
Empire of the Sun (1987) More at IMDbPro »

Synopsis by "Cult Movies" author Danny Peary...

Jim Graham (Christian Bale), who ages from nine to twelve during the course of the story, is a brilliant and precocious boy with a fascination for Japanese airplanes. Jim lives with his rich British parents in the suburbs of Shanghai, where he was born.

It is 1941 and the Japanese have invaded China, prompting its fifteen thousand British residents to attempt flight from the country. Jim is separated from his parents during chaos in the crowded streets. After spending many days vainly awaiting their return home, he ventures through the city and falls in with Basie (John Malkovich), an American "operator." They wind up in a Japanese internment camp. There Jim uses what he learns from Basie, top dog in the American adult quarters, to become a first-rate hustler and scavenger. If anybody (adult or child) wants anything, (food, cigarettes, et al), s/he comes to Jim. Jim is fascinated by the Japanese planes and pilots, on an airfield which he and other prisoners have built. When the field is attacked by Americans, he becomes excited by the activity in the air. He stands in the open, crazily shouting praise at the warring planes. When he comes to his senses, Jim cries because he doesn't know what his parents look like anymore. With the war drawing to an end, the freed prisoners begin a mass exodus. Many die of hunger. Jim returns to the camp. Basie and other scavengers turn up. When they kill a young Japanese flier Jim has befriended, he turns against Basie. American soldiers arrive and the confused boy SURRENDERS to them. His parents discover him at a children's camp. He comes out of his near-trance and hugs them.