'The Children Of Huang Shi' Review

Chow Yun-Fat, left, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers in Roger Spottiswoode’s Children of Huang Shi.  Watch the trailer:  http://www.childrenofhuangshi.com/

We saw this wonderful movie where we see foreign & small works and why this one has not received a wide distribution is a mystery. Maybe it's because there aren't any big name stars attached but the cast is well known to viewers of these kinds of movies. Maybe that's the charm of The Children of Huang Shi  in not seeing stars whose appearance would distract from the story.  Besides the great photography shot on location, there's a matching vibrant score that sweeps you along without being manipulative. Don't be surprised if you shed a tear at the end or during it.

   The Children of Huang Shi is based on a real incident about British journalist named George Hogg, played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers, in China during the Japanese invasion. He is forced to take over an orphanage and becomes a better person for it as he learns to care for the needy. He's guided by a war weary nurse, Radha Mitchell, an American-educated Communist guerrilla, Chow Yung Fat, and a widowed merchant, Michele Yeoh. The rest of the cast including those without dialogue more than fill out the needs of the story. 

   I dare anyone not to be moved by the end, including the ending where the real grown children are interviewed about how much Hogg did for them. I disagree with one reviewer who said:  "It’s difficult to care about Hogg himself, whose personality and motivations remain unplumbed. That’s why the testimonies from some of his former charges, played over the end credits, are so unexpectedly moving."  You learn enough about him and his past as you slowly watch him evolve from caring only about his profession to become a leader of the desperate.

   And Mom enjoyed it as much as us.