The Children of Huang Shi (2008)

Director:

Roger Spottiswoode

Writers:

Jane Hawksley (writer)
James MacManus (writer)

Release Date:

3 April 2008 (China)

Genre:

Drama | War

Tagline:

War made them orphans, one man made them legends

Plot:

About young British journalist, George Hogg, who with the assistance of a courageous Australian nurse, saves a group of orphaned children during the Japanese occupation of China in 1937.

Plot Keywords:

China | Nurse | Journalist | British | Orphan

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Jonathan Rhys Meyers	...	George Hogg
Radha Mitchell	...	Lee Pearson
Yun-Fat Chow	...	Chen Hansheng
Michelle Yeoh	...	Mrs. Wang
Guang Li	...	Shi-Kai
Lin Ji	...	Horse Rider
Matt Walker	...	Andy Fisher
Anastasia Kolpakova	...	Duschka
Ping Su	...	Eddie Wei
Imai Hideaki	...	Japanese Officer
Sciichiro Hashimoto	...	Urbane Japanese Officer
Shinichi Takashima	...	Hostile Kempetai Officer
Xing Mang	...	Young Communist
Ruixiang Zhu	...	Japanese Officer II
Yuelong Fang	...	Rou Ding

Also Known As:

Children of the Silk Road (Australia)
Die Kinder der Seidenstrasse (Germany)
Escape from Huang Shi (Singapore: English title)
Huang Shi de hai zi (China: Mandarin title)

MPAA:

Rated R for some disturbing and violent content.

Runtime:

125 min

Country:

Australia | China | Germany

Language:

English | Japanese | Mandarin

Color:

Color | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | USA:R | Singapore:PG | Hong Kong:IIA | Australia:M | South Korea:12 | New Zealand:M | Mexico:B15 | UK:15 | Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Chedun Studios, Shanghai, China

Company:

Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC)

Trivia:

Marks the first official co-production between Australia and China.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: There's several scenes of Japanese Mitsubishi A6M2 'Zero' fighter planes strafing Chinese civilians and Nationalist soldiers in 1937-38. The Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero fighter plane would make its combat debut over Chungking, China in August 1940. Prior to that time, the Japanese were employing imperial Army Nakajima Ki-27 fighter planes with the fixed landing gear and the imperial Navy Mitsubishi A5M, also with fixed landing gear, later codenamed, "Claude", by the Allies. The Allies later codenamed the Ki-27, "Nate".

Quotes:

[first lines]
George Hogg: Shoot some hoops?
Andy Fisher: No thanks. I have to save my strength, I'm getting married on Tuesday.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2008-05-24)" (2008)

Where do the children play?

Greetings again from the darkness. It is difficult to imagine a more powerful, emotional story than the real life heroism of George Hogg. He was a British journalist who truly saved the life and dreams of 60 war Chinese war orphans during the 1937 invasion by Japan.

The good news is that the story is remarkable, but the downside is how director Roger Spottiswoode ("Tomorrow Never Dies", "Turner and Hooch") is stuck with two miscast leads. Jonathan Rhys Meyers doesn't have the chops to pull off strength of Hogg and much worse is the downright horrible performance of Radha Mitchell as Lee, the war hardened do-gooder. The combination of these two severely weaken the film, but luckily not the story.

Chow Yun-Fat and the great Michelle Yeoh play important supporting roles and both are excellent in their English speaking parts. Both are masters at letting simple facial gestures express the bulk of their thoughts. The children in the film are a pleasure to watch, though, we really don't connect with any of them.

Some of the landscape is beautifully film and Spottiswoode does a good job of portraying the hardships of the 700 mile Silk Road journey, without it dragging the pace down. Again, the power of this story is unmistakable, but it is certainly not given its due by this rendition. Make sure to stay for the credits as we are treated to first hand memories of some of the surviving children (now very adavanced in age, but extremely lucid).