A truck later arrives to take selected internees to the Suzhou Creek Internment Camp Basie is among those selected to go, but Jamie is not and because he knows of the camp's location, Jamie is able to convince the soldiers to take him. The three of them are then taken to the Lunghua Civilian Assembly Center in Shanghai for processing. While there, Jamie finds his house lit and sees a figure in the window whom he thinks is his mother, but when he runs to the door, the house is occupied by Japanese troops, who take Jamie, Bassi and Jim prisoner. They first intend to leave Jamie in the streets when they are unable to sell his teeth for cash, but Jamie promises to lead them back to his neighborhood where there are valuables to loot. After being chased by a street urchin, Jamie is taken in by Basie, an American expatriate and hustler and his partner Frank, who nicknames him 'Jim'.

While searching for food, he tries to surrender to some Japanese soldiers, but they shrug and laugh him off. Jamie spends some time living in his deserted home, but after eating all the food he ventures out into the city. His mother shouts at him over the panicked mob to wait at their house and promises that they will come back for him. Plot SPOILER WARNING: The following contains important plot details of the entire film.ĭuring Japan's invasion of China during World War II, a British upper middle-class boy named Jamie Graham is enjoying a privileged & spoiled life in the Shanghai International Settlement, but he becomes separated from his parents after the Attack on Pearl Harbor and the Japanese occupying the settlement.

Empire of the sun by jg ballard