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The Children of Huang Shi, 2008

The Children of Huang Shi

English, Japanese, Mandarin

Australia, China, Germany

Rating:6.9
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Profile of The Children of Huang Shi

The mood of The Children of Huang Shi is sincere, touching, and captivating. The plot centers around an orphan, self discovery, and survival. It is a drama and period movie. In approach, The Children of Huang Shi is serious and realistic. It takes place, at least partly, in the mountains and in the desert. The setting is China. The Children of Huang Shi happens during World War 2 and in the 1930s. It is originally a true story.

Summary of The Children of Huang Shi

Jonathan Rhys Meyers stars as real-life hero Charles Hogg in this mix of old-fashioned epic sweep and spiritual courage. Hogg is a naive journalist when he accidentally finds himself in wartorn China's Nanking province, just as the Japanese army is invading during the early days of World War II. He is almost executed but is rescued by a crafty communist guerilla (Chow Yun-Fat) and a lovely, brash nurse (Radha Mitchell). They send Hogg to a burnt-out orphanage to lie low, but as the scruffy orphans begin to charm him, he ends up teaching them English and basketball. Longtime Hong Kong superstar Michelle Yeoh (CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON) is a classy merchant who helps Hogg get the orphanage back on its feet, but then comes trouble when communist insurgents want to conscript the orphans into the local militia.

THE CHILDREN OF HUANG SHI is a rare case of an English film being shot in mainland China, and director Roger Spottiswoode (who worked with Yeoh previously on the Bond film TOMORROW NEVER DIES) and cinematographer Zhao Xiaoding get maximum mileage from the dusky beauty of the landscapes, the smoke and charred ruins, and the luminous features of the lead actors. Sweeping romance and war atrocities aside, what sticks here is the beauty of watching Hogg embrace his chance to become an instrument of peace and hope in a dangerous time. The real-life orphans, now elderly, appear at the end to honor the memory of the real Hogg in a touching tribute that lends the proceedings extra emotional impact.

Details

Language: English, Japanese, Mandarin
Country: Australia, China, Germany
Release date: 23 May 2008
Runtime: 125 min

Cast and Crew

Jonathan Rhys Meyers as George Hogg in The Children of Huang Shi
Jonathan Rhys Meyers

as George Hogg

Radha Mitchell as Lee Pearson in The Children of Huang Shi
Radha Mitchell

as Lee Pearson

Yun-Fat Chow as Chen Hansheng in The Children of Huang Shi
Yun-Fat Chow

as Chen Hansheng

Michelle Yeoh as Mrs. Wang in The Children of Huang Shi
Michelle Yeoh

as Mrs. Wang

Photos

The Children of Huang Shi (2008)
The Children of Huang Shi (2008)

Clips

The Children of Huang Shi
The Children of Huang Shi: Official Trailer

Critics Reviews

The New York Times
Roger Spottiswoode directs with old-fashioned style, avoiding the saccharine with realistic depictions of a war-ravaged China (where he filmed) and a cast well versed in stiff-upper-lip.
Variety
Giving Jonathan Rhys Meyers the kind of manly yet paternal role Spencer Tracy once mastered, this carefully wrought international production relates the basic story of reporter George Hogg without any vibrancy, emotion or style.

Users Reviews

The Children of Huang Shi; hopes, fears, future
I just watched “The Children of Huang Shi,” it was a good movie. I caught the movie in the middle, it rarely happen for me not to go through all the channels to get to decide what to watch, but the first phrase captured me, Gorge was talking about...
Despite some clunky dialog, so-so acting with little chemistry between the characters, and a predictable plot, this docudrama, about a Brit in China during the build-up to WWII who leads 60 Chinese orphans ona 500-mile march to escape marauding...
Likely to see
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