Empire of Light is Mendes’ most personal film to date. He and its stars, including Colman, Micheal Ward and Toby Jones, talk medication, escapism and kicking down sandcastles
, he felt “the shifting of the tectonic plates”. Today’s upsets “feel similar, but on a bigger scale”.
The cast’s memories of 1981 are a mixed bag. Colman recalls the thrill of spotting punks on a shopping trip with her mother to Norwich. Jones can still visualise skinheads storming the stage at a Police gig. “There was a kind of intensity. It was a really violent time. You realise the proximity to the [second world] war and why all play seemed to be infiltrated with this kind of indiscriminate violence.
A key reckoning in the film comes when Stephen is treated with contempt by a regular cinema customer. Little is explicit, but a bag of chips is eaten with unusual aggression, and a lot of dribble. Worse is the blind-eye turned by the staff, keen to defuse the situation. Afterwards, Stephen scolds Hilary for her complicity.Speaking out is still hard, says Moodie. “Who wants to be that guy? It’s very difficult to call things out.
“The Black guy said to me: ‘Bro, don’t laugh. It’s not funny.’ And I was like: ‘Fucking hell, we literally just filmed that scene and I’ve gone and done the same thing.’”
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