Empire of the Sun (1987)
Christian Bale: Jim
Photos
Quotes
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Jim : [during an American airstrike] P-51! Cadillac of the sky!
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Jim : I can't remember what my parents look like.
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Jim : If the Americans land, the Japanese will fight.
Dr. Rawlins : You admire the Japanese?
Jim : Well, they're brave, aren't they?
Dr. Rawlins : That's important, is it, Jim?
Jim : It's a good thing if you want to win a war.
Dr. Rawlins : But we don't want them to win, do we. Remember, we're British.
Jim : Yes. I've never been there.
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Jim : I was dreaming about God.
Mary Graham : What did he say?
Jim : Nothing. He was playing tennis. Perhaps that's where God is all the time and that's why you can't see Him when you're awake, do you think?
Mary Graham : I don't know. I don't know about God.
Jim : Perhaps He's our dream... and we're His.
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Jim : Learned a new word today. "Atom bomb." It was like the God taking a photograph.
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Jim : Amatus sum, amatus es, amatus est.
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[Frank and Basie are about to leave Jim in the street]
Jim : [desperately] Basie, first I could show you some rich pickings. Hundreds of houses left empty. I could show you some of the houses I lived in before Frank found me. They were luxuriant!
Basie : Luxuriant? You had good sense being born there, Jim. I'm sure there was good living.
Jim : There certainly was good living, Basie. There - there was opulence!
Basie : Heh heh. Opulence. Frank, we'll go and take a look at some of these houses. Let's go, Frank. Opulence.
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[Nurses attempt to wake a sickly man]
Jim : Can I have his shoes when he's dead?
Dr. Rawlins : God you're a pragmatist, Jim.
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[Jim's hassling the truck driver on the way to Soochow]
Jim : Do you know where we are? We're here, see? And now we have to turn left. Do you hear me? When I say turn left, you turn left! When I say turn right, turn right! You have to do what I say otherwise we'll never get to Soochow then you'll be shot!
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Jamie : Help me, I'm British.
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Jim : [about the Japanese troops camped nearby] It almost looks as if they're waiting for something to happen...
John Graham, Jim's father : Yes.
Jim : They didn't look angry or anything...
Maxton : It's not their anger; it's their patience.
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Jim : Mrs. Victor, why did the Japanese close the school?
Mrs. Victor : Because they wanted to punish the grownups.
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Mrs. Victor : I wonder how you'll take to school in England when the war's over.
Jim : It might be a bit strange. All the same, Mrs. Victor, the best teacher is the University of Life.
Mr. Victor : Oh, for heaven's...!
Mrs. Victor : Could we finish our meal, please? We've heard your views on the University of Life.
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[Jim grabs wildly at Chinese soldiers after hearing about the atomic bomb]
Jim : I saw it! I saw it! It was like a white light in the sky.
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Jim : Dr. Rawlin, do you remember how we had helped build the runway? If we die like the others, our bones would be IN the runway. In a way, it's OUR runway...
Dr. Rawlins : No it's THEIR runway, Jim! Try not to think so much! Try not to THINK so much!
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Jim : I touched it! I touched it! I felt the heat! I can taste it in my mouth, oil and cordite!
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Jim : We should eat the weevils, Mrs. Victor.
Mrs. Victor : Oh, yes, I know, Jim. Dr. Rawlins told you.
Jim : He said we need the protein.
Mrs. Victor : Yes, well, Dr. Rawlins is right. We should *all* eat the weevils.
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Dr. Rawlins : It's a good thing you're friends with Basie. He's a survivor.
Jim : That's because he only drinks boiled water.
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Jim : I can bring everyone back. I can bring everyone back. Everyone. I can bring everyone back. Everyone. I can bring everyone back. Everyone. I can bring everyone back. Everyone. I can bring everyone back. Everyone. I can bring everyone back. Everyone! I can bring everyone back! I can bring everyone back! Everyone! Everyone! Everyone! Everyone! Everyone! Everyone! Everyone!
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Jim : Which side will win the war?
John Graham, Jim's father : Ours, of course.
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Dr. Rawlins : What about your English prep? Just think of it as - the antidote.
Jim : [rapidly] We-are-never-sure-of-sorrow, And-joy-was-never-sure, To-day-will-die-to-morrow, Time-stoops-to-no-man's-lure, With-love-grown-faint-and-fretful, With lips but...
Dr. Rawlins : No, no, no, no, no. Try to learn it as a poem. It's not just a string of words, you know.
