The Children of Huang Shi follows the story of a 1937 British reporter, named who disguises himself as a Red Cross worker to expose the truth behind the Japanese occupation of China.
When journalist George Hogg (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) gets caught taking photos of the Japanese executing several Chinese, he is sentenced to death by beheading. Luckily for him, a Chinese resistance leader, Chen (Chow Yun Fat), saves him and sends him off to work at an orphanage.
This is the love story of Hogg’s work at the orphanage and his budding relationship with the Australian nurse (Radha Mitchell) who works there. When the war threatens the well being of the orphanage, Hogg and Chen stage a daring escape to keep the children safe.
Well, it sounds like a daring escape. But, you won’t get a sense of that from watching this film, nor will you get a real feeling as to why they so urgently needed to leave. Sure, the war is there, but the pieces of the story are so disjointed and choppy that it seems artificial. And, for a film based on true events, a sense of reality should be more overwhelming.
Unfortunately, what sounds like an epic tale, immediately becomes a melodramatic bore after Hogg arrives at the orphanage. The film is slow paced and it feels like Director Roger Spottiswoode chose to highlight the wrong parts of the story. There is a wealth of history available during this time, but unfortunately that world is barely touched on. And, the epic part of the tale was completely left out in exchange for a bad romance flick.
There is a brief moment when the children are getting ready to leave the orphanage that you really get a sense of the inner turmoil the children have been through. But, outside of that, prepare yourself for a film that just glosses over a very sad point in history.
The best part about this film is the end, and not just because this ill-planned movie is finally over. The production was able to gather the surviving orphans from which the story was based on to share their feelings in a heart-warming montage.
Buy The Children of Huang Shi
Release Date: January 20, 2009
* Images Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics
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