The Children of Huang Shi (2008) User Reviews

Wait for the Credits

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 20 May 2013]

In 1937, the British reporter George Hogg (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) travels to Shanghai expecting to cover the Japanese invasion of Nanking. However, the British consul does not give a visa to him since the Japanese authorities do not want journalists in the capital. George deals with a Red Cross driver that wants to get married and he assumes his identity to travel to Nanking with two other journalists in his truck.

George witness and photographs an execution of dwellers by the Japanese soldiers but he is captured. When the soldier is ready to behead George with a sword, he is saved by the communist Chinese soldier Chen Hansheng, a.k.a. Jack (Yun-Fat Chow). George is wounded by a shot and Jack brings him to the Red Cross camping where the nurse Lee Pearson (Radha Mitchell) heals him. Jack sends George to an orphanage and he becomes responsible for sixty orphans. George improves their lives and every now and then he sees Jack, who has become his friend, and Lee, for whom he has fallen in love. With the Japanese occupation and the civil war between nationalists and communists, George decides to travel of about 800 km to a distant but safe land through the mountains and desert with the orphans.

"The Children of Huang Shi" is a movie based on a true story about the life of a British journalist that saved sixty orphans during the Japanese occupation of China in 1937. The movie has magnificent cinematography and art direction, and a great cast, with Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Radha Mitchell, Yun-Fat Chow and Michelle Yeoh. However, the narrative is cold and without emotions, and the only touching moment is in the credits, with the testimony of survivors that will certainly touch the heart of the viewer. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Órfãos da Guerra" ("Orphans of the War")

Heke is a hero

[avan261412430 · 8/10 · 12 May 2008]

I watched this movie last Saturday, and here are some feelings of mine. "The children of Huangshi" brought me an vivid image of the reality during the pre-WWⅡ. George Hogg, also known as Heke was a courageous, insistent and responsible man. He treated the homeless orphans as ordinary innocent children while the Japanese enemy and the nationalists never showed any mercy to them. Children were victims of the wars. They lost their families, their childhood, and even their courage to live. Wars also raised the hatred in their mind, changing them into devils. In the movie, two echo scenes impressed me a lot： One is the photo of Shikai' family, the other is a photo of a Japanese soldier. Shikai saw his parents and his sister be killed atrociously by Japanese and since then he became dissociable and unreasonable and the only hope to him was the photo. When he got the chance to kill Japanese, he did it decidedly, only to find that a family photo holding in the soldier's hands. Heke tried to release the children's hatred and he wanted them to be normal children. At some aspect, he succeeded, because the children of Huangshi, e.g. Laosi, found his way back to be a happy child under Heke's education; however, the damage of the war was too huge to be cured. Most of the children were saved but not what they were used to be any more. Anyway, Heke is a great man. Although he is a foreigner, he is our national hero forever.

A Nearly Impossible Story to Tell or Believe: True Heroism

[gradyharp · 8/10 · 23 January 2009]

THE CHILDREN OF HUANG SHI is a long (greater than two hours) epic tale that happens to be a true story of an extraordinary hero's life and gift to humanity during World War II. If as a film the telling of this story is a bit shaky in spots, it is probably due to the episodic series of events that happened very quickly and under existing conditions of profound stress. Yet despite the occasional misfires in production this remains a bit of history we all should know.

George Hogg (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is a journalist assigned to Shanghai in 1937 and with his colleagues he plans to explore the extent of the invasion of China by the Japanese. Under the guise of Red Cross workers his small band manages to enter Nanjing where now alone due to the loss of his friends to battle he observes and photographs the atrocities of mass murders of the people of Nanjing. He is captured by the Japanese, tortured when his confiscated camera reveals his terrifying photographs, and it is only by acts of fortune and the aid of a Chinese Nationalist Chen Hansheng (Chow Yun-Fat) that he escapes. Hogg probes the Chinese countryside for further evidences of the evil of the Japanese invasion, and he finds a village of children (adults are all absent) and realizes that he is in an orphanage without a leader. At first reluctant to assume the role of guardian of these impoverished and filthy frightened children, he soon accepts his responsibility and is challenged by an Australian nurse Lee Pearson (Radha Mitchell) to become not only the caretaker but also the father/teacher/provider/role model these children so desperately need.

Seeing the advancing of the Japanese, Hogg decides to take his wards 700 mile away to a small village by the Gobi desert reachable only by the infamous Silk Road. It is this journey and the way both the children and Hogg are affected by the challenge that absorb the greater part of the film. Observing the transformation of George Hogg's view of the world is made credible by Jonathan Rhys Meyers' performance. The cast of children often steals the limelight, but with supporting cast members such as Chow Yun-Fat, Radha Mitchell and Michelle Yeoh as an opium merchant the story never lacks color and character. The look of the film is dark, but the message of this story is full of light. Here is a bit of Chinese history we should all know! Grady Harp

A well-intentioned movie that stays on a course of political correctness

[harry_tk_yung · 6 April 2008]

To those who can remember that far, this movie has close kinship, or is even a non-identical twin to, "The Inn of six Happiness" where Ingrid Bergman portrayed Gladys Aylward, an English woman who escaped with 100 Chinese children from the invading Japanese. "Escape from Huang Shi" (or "The children of Huang Shi) is almost identical in many ways, the story of English reporter George Hogg who took 60 Chinese children on a "mini long March" along the Silk Road to safety before the Japaneses' onslaught hit the orphanage. There is a little more detail in this story prior to Hogg getting to the orphanage where he won the heart of the children embittered from witnessing atrocities unspeakable done to their loved ones. But the relationship between Hogg and these children is the heart of the story. Most remarkable is what we see during the end credit roll, where some of these children (now well advanced in age) recounting how they remember him – the most touching part of the movie.

This is not to say that the dramatization in the movie is not well done. Here, the credit goes first and foremost to the cast. Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Radha Mitchell are two of the most notable actors today not because of their looks (which they certainly have) but because they are good character actors. Meyers is great in his portrayal of Hogg as a mild-tempered young man from a sworn Pacifist family finding himself challenged by the emotion of hate triggered by some of the things he witnessed. Mitchell is wonderful as nurse Lee Pearson who seems at first hardened and drained of any emotions after all the atrocities she has seen, but later found to have a weak spot of her own.

Chow Yun-fat plays "Jack" Chen, a seasoned military man who saves Hogg from decapitation under a Japanese sword and goes on to help him all along the way. This character is portrayed with a dry sense of humour uncharacteristic of the Chinese people at the time. This is a good approach as it balances somewhat the story that is essentially heavily tragic. Chow handles the role with customary ease, making his character very likable. Michelle Yeoh plays Mrs Wang, a successful, pragmatic merchant who, although taking pains to hide it, also has a caring heart. Yeoh has everything it takes to bring out the dignity and charm that prompted Hogg to refer to her as "a great lady" when he said goodbye upon taking on the "march".

This Australia/China/Germany collaboration steers a careful course of political correctness in the sensitive issue of the delicate relationship between the Chinese Nationalist and Communists during the Japanese invasion. The depiction of Japanese atrocities of course need not be spared unless one wants to falsify history, but even here, there is only very brief mention of historical details. The main focus of this movie is a human story well worth telling, as the interviews of the actual survivors shown with the end credits clearly underscore.

Heroic George Hogg saves a group of orphaned children based on facts happened during Chinese-Japanese war

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 15 November 2010]

Gripping and intense film depicting terrible deeds during Japonese invasion in Shangai and Nanjing (1937) . After that, at the city take place violations, mutilations, and massacres. Some prisoners are interred in a prison camp but later they are led to fire squad, scaffold and alive burying. Later on , an orphaned children group escapes led by the journalist named George Hogg (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), a nurse (Radha Mitchell) and a communist Chinese (Choe Yun Fat).

Director de-glamorizes war showing true horror and terrible events . It's a staggering evocation of the Chinese Holocausto in Nanjing , as the atrocities are depicted matter of factly as by-product of sheer Japanese evil. The opening twenty minutes in which the reporter appears as hidden observer turns out to be a graphic depiction the facing off is , on its own, and is magnificent . As the exciting beginning results to be pretty stirring , the developing of the movie regarding invasion China is partially similar to ¨Empire of the sun¨ and suffering of the children on the escape is really moving . The starring, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and the rest of the cast are excellent , as the movie is powered by splendid performances in charge of American and Chinese actors who during filming suffered some inevitable pains for the hard environment . Filmed in perfect color by cameraman Zhao , reflecting appropriately the Chinese scenarios . Spottiswoode makes a breathtaking work which directs spectacularly with groundbreaking scenes in a heartbreaking context . He dedicated long time joining information and interviewing experts for that scenes would adequate to reality of events. This masterpiece finally didn't garner the world attention and respect that the story deserve and had a regular box office . The motion picture is acceptably directed by Robert Spottiswoode who realizes a spectacular and impressive production. He's a successful director from TV movies and cinema, as terror genre(Terror train), adventures(Air America,Shoot to kill), Scif-Fi (6th day), James Bond film(Tomorrow never dies), and his best movie is ¨Under fire¨.

The film is based on actual events about George Hogg , a courageous British reporter , who along with a brave nurse saves a group of orphaned children during the Japanese occupation of China in 1937, these are the following : George Aylwin Hogg (1915-July 22, 1945) was an English adventurer. He was a graduate of Oxford University in economics. He is known as a hero in China for helping New Zealander Rewi Alley save 60 orphaned boys during the Second Chinese-Japanese War, including leading them 700 miles (1,100 km) through dangerous mountain passes, escaping the approaching Japanese secret police in the Shaanxi area .Hogg then decided to relocate the boys to Shandan in Gansu Province 700 miles (1,100 km) away. The first half (33) left in November 1944 and in January 1945, the remaining 27 boys followed. They traveled heavily snow-covered mountain roads by foot. After a month of travel by foot, 450 miles (720 km), they arrived in Lanzhou.Hogg hired six diesel trucks to complete the trip. Early March 1945, Hogg and his boys arrived in Shandan. Alley rented some old temples, turned them into classrooms and workshops, and appointed Hogg as headmaster .

Where do the children play?

[ferguson-6 · 6/10 · 8 June 2008]

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).

A Nutshell Review: Escape from Huang Shi

[DICK STEEL · 6/10 · 15 April 2008]

So the posters have Chow Yun Fat's mug splattered in the center and given top billing. However, this is actually Jonathan Rhys Meyers' vehicle as he plays the central character of George Hogg, an Associated Press reporter who smuggles himself into Nanjing pre-WWII and witnessed the atrocities of the invading Japanese army. Inspired by a true story, this is about the life of Hogg as he takes it upon himself to do whatever he can to save a group of orphans he gets set up and acquainted with.

What of Chow? His Chen Hansheng, a communist fighting against the Japanese, gets relegated to supporting appearances, to give us some brief history lessons on the uneasy alliance between the communists and Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists, as they only link up with each other to fight a common enemy when it conveniences both parties. You would come to think that, from the trailers, this is gonna be quite an action packed movie with Chow leading his group of merry men to do battle against the Japanese, but the movie employs a "fight another day" stance, and the central plot has nothing to do with that too.

And pairing up in the same movie after their Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon stint is Michelle Yeoh, only this time, they don't get to share any scene together, and worse, Yeoh's role as a rich merchant Mrs Wang gets severely diminished. No doubt it is clear that the prospects of uniting Chow and Yeoh together would bring in curious crowds who can't wait to savour the opportune moment, but alas they happen to be just the side dishes.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers, joined by Radha Mitchell, fresh from her battle with a beastly crocodile, takes on leading man status, as the reporter who finds himself thrusts into Huang Shi, and into the enclave of 60 male orphans, living in filth, and without hope. Strongly encouraged to stay behind and take care of them, he becomes the reluctant and unwilling teacher, but slowly wins over the hearts and trust of the children, and hence begins a fairy tale like environment that seemingly is remotely away from the war in China, except for the enemy planes flying overhead serving as a reminder.

However, it's soon that they find themselves between a rock and a hard place, with the Japanese inching closer, and the Nationalists wanting to possess their land for their use, as well as to conscript those boys into warfare. Not wanting that to happen, Hogg packs them all up, and so begins the journey proper as per what the title says.

The events that unfold are just plain sailing without any tension involved, nor any excitement built up. It just flat-lines its way through beautiful environments of mountains and plains, coupled with treacherous snows and sandstorms, but otherwise, it seemed that their 1000km trek looked quite peanuts. What's more amusing here though is how the Chinese cast look so much more comfortable speaking English - I thought Chow has improved by leaps and bounds, but Meyers and Mitchell really sounded very off in their Mandarin diction, that you'll find it quite ridiculous that the parties they speak to, can understand them totally. Brownie points have to be given for their courage to speak, and give the language a go, though again it could be playing to character as one cannot master the language in such a short period of time.

At the end of the day, this played out more like a simple account of an event that had happened (of course again with artistic license taken), and the documentary-styled interview segments at the end while the end credits play, affirmed what happened and gave us some insights into Hogg's character, much more that what the film had portrayed. While the alternate title might seem to involve the Children quite a bit, only a few were given names and faces, and even fewer given personalities. Similar to movies like Schindler's List and Hotel Rwanda where the ability of one man helped save many, but this one lacked that crucial emotional punch.

This is a top quality movie

[Samuela55 · 9/10 · 23 June 2008]

This is a top quality movie; it is inspirational. Jonathan Rhys Meyers' acting was superb. The scenery was beautiful and the children were touching. I highly recommend this movie. Here was a true hero in every sense of the word. George Hogg risked his life to save the lives of innocent children. He also risked his life to publicize the truth. His parents were courageous pacifists. He struggled with the dilemma of when pacifism is appropriate and when fighting back is appropriate. Yun-Fat Chow and Michelle Yeoh were also outstanding in their roles. It was interesting and informative regarding a period of history and location that is not that widely known about in the West.

The children are the future

[tastyhotdogs · 7/10 · 30 March 2009]

Last year wifey won some tickets to see this at the cinema. We never got round to it, but on the weekend it was wifey's choice of movie (being her birthday and all) and she picked this.

"Children Of The Silk Road" is based upon the remarkable true story of journalist George Hogg (played by the annoying Jonathan Rhys Meyers, in his finest work since "Bend It Like Beckham), a Brit who during the 30's found himself in China looking for untold stories and ended up being the saviour to a heap of young orphan boys.

Hogg bravely chose to go to China in the 30's to try to tell the world about the atrocities being committed by the Japanese soldiers on innocent civilians. He gets caught by the Japanese early on into his trip and is about to be murdered when he saved by a small band of Chinese fighters, headed by Chen (Chow Yun-Fat, in his finest work since "Ban wo chuang tian ya"). Chen helps him on his way, where he eventually comes across an orphanage in an abandoned grand building. Here he meets up again with US nurse Lee (played by Radha Mitchell, in her best work since some guest appearances on Aussie sitcom favourite "All Together Now"). She challenges George to stay and help these abandoned boys rather than just run back home like a little nancy boy. George stays and ends up dramatically changing the boys lives. Word soon reaches him though that the Japanese will be coming, so he must take them on a seemingly crazy 700mile journey through the rough Chinese winter to refuge. Will they survive and reach freedom? See it to find out.

Not bad and certainly inspiring in pieces. Meyers pulled it off reasonably well considering how unappealing he is to men in general, if not for a few scenes that were uncomfortably awkward. One of the better movies set in China I've seen, perhaps even better than "Rush Hour".

One of the better films of 2008

[jaybob · 10/10 · 26 February 2009]

There already have been more than a few films about China & the peoples straggles in the 1930's & in WW 2. There also have been a few about a dedicated person helping children escaping from wars horrors. So what makes this film so much better.

First, this was made in China in actual locations. The scenery is breathtaking.

It is based on a real person Charles Hogg a journalist in his 20's,who reluctantly became head of a school of orphans,who with the help of a young nurse leads these young children 700 miles across China to a safer area.

There was a similar film many years ago with Ingrid Bergman, Inn of the Sixth Happinness; which in itself was an excellent movie.

Jonathan Rhyss-Meyer who is under 30 is Hogg & fits the role perfectly. Radha Mitchell is the Aunstralian nurse ,she has a difficult role to play, she does have personal problems.She too, fits here role perfectly.

Ynn Fat Chow (AKA Chow Yun Fat)is a soldier & Hogg's friend. This fine actor has yet to give a bad performance. Michelle Yeoh also has a major role & is great

In fact all the acting & all the production values are first rate.

This film is based on fact,I cannot & will not say how accurate it is. I only know I felt watching it, I saw a wonderful well made film.

As one would expect there are some clichés, Very few if any films escape from having them

It was excellently directed by Roger Spottiswoode. It did have a theatrical run in the USA, playing in small handful of theatres.

WHY OH WHY do they do this is beyond me. Granted there are few exciting action packed scenes, this is NOT that type of film.. Ratings; **** (out of 4) 98 points (out of 100) IMDb 10 (out of 10)

Good but not great story of a man saving children in time of war

[dbborroughs · 6/10 · 27 April 2008]

Film version of the life of George Hogg. Hogg was a British national who went to China during the Rape of Nanking as a reporter and ended up taking care of a bunch of orphans in the face of Japanese barbarity on the Chinese people.

The version I saw was dubbed completely in Chinese and had English subtitles. As it stands now its a good but rather standard film about a man who tried to do something in the face of war. The film stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Hogg. He's fine, but I don't think he's given much to do since much of the action seems to be reduced to cliché, even the romance with the broken Australian nurse has the feeling of been there. Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yoeh have small but important roles (respectively) as a general who befriends Hogg and a black marketeer who helps him. I liked it but didn't love it (its one of those films thats "almost.." but isn't and falls between the cracks). Perhaps because of the possibly bad subtitles or more likely the clichéd script the under appreciated Roger Spottiswoode used just isn't great. This isn't to say there aren't a couple of great set pieces, there are, the attack on the train in particular, but its not enough to raise the film from the near great to the great, or from nearly very good to very good. It just sort of misses. The just sort of misses feeling was re-enforced after I read some pieces on line which gives more details on the real George Hogg (He needs a miniseries about his life not two hour film) 6ish out of 10

One Of My Picks To Click For Best Of The Year!

[Seamus2829 · 10/10 · 2 July 2008]

After I exited the theater that screened 'The Children Of Huang Shi', I was on a cloud. This is easily one of the best films of 2008 (so far the other is Mongol). The plot concerns a foreign correspondent from Australia in China covering the Chinese/Japanese war in 1937, who gets in over his head by venturing out of the safety zone of Bejing, into the thick of the war, and gets involved helping an orphanage of Chinese war orphans. A woman doctor also gets tossed in for good measure in the proceedings. This is a finely acted drama that is a bit rough to watch at times, but is well worth the effort. You could do a lot worse than 'The Children Of Huang Shi' (does 'You Don't Mess With The Zohan' mean anything?)

A story needed to be told

[siderite · 7/10 · 3 May 2009]

This is like a Schindler's List for the Chinese. It's a war story that focuses not on the terror and pain and atrocities, but on the good a person can do and it is based on a true story. Something that needs to be told and remembered.

That being said, was it a well told story? Yes and no. It seemed terribly fragmented to me, moving from one scene to the other with the speed of a bullet. It is hard to "feel" the individual character changes because it all happens so fast. Of course, I couldn't expect a two hour movie to slowly tell a story that spanned many months in real life, but still. You can't show two friends entering China, then one dying and completely omit him from the story from then on because you don't have time. On the other hand, I hardly see the subject as appropriate for a mini series.

Bottom line: good story, good acting, watch it if you feel the need for a good war time drama that inspires.

Another free take on history

[jimigorilla2000 · 3/10 · 24 August 2009]

This could have been such a great movie if the makers had not taken so many liberties with a story which neither needs nor deserves it. The story of George Hogg and Rewi Alley, a communist from New Zealand, who saved 60 orphans from the ravages of the Second World War by taking them on a 1,100 km trek across mountainous terrain is truly inspirational. Why Alley, the true leader of the expedition, had to be replaced by an American nurse with a drug problem is anybody's guess. Probably to add romantic interest to the story, because just about the only thing the film makers deem interesting enough during the epic journey across the mountains is the fact the leading man and lady finally hit the sack together. When will they ever learn? Trying to sell this as a 'true' should be punishable by a fine which matches the eventual profits, DVD sales included. Other reviewers have remarked how little attention the actual children get in a movie that is called "Children of Huang Shi", so I won't go into that. All in all 3 stars for the often stunning photography.

We should thank Hogg

[min867 · 7 May 2008]

As a Chinese,I Was moved by Hogg.He was a foreigner to Chinese,but he did his best to look after all the children.At first,he thought the only thing he wanted to do was to let the world know the china's events.Teaching the children was not his purpose.But in the end,he began to attend to the children and finally he took them a safety place called Shandan.He liked peace so he wanted to the children lived in a peace place.But unfortunately,he was suffered from lockjaw. The life was not easy for the orphans at that time.A boy felt home's importance and finally suicided.

We should remember the foreign friends who contributed a lot to China's revolution.In addition,we must treasure what we owe today.

An amazing true story! 7/10

[leonblackwood · 7/10 · 5 March 2016]

Review: I really enjoyed this emotional drama, and the fact that it's based on a true story, made the whole journey truly amazing. Its another one of those films were it needed some big names to play the main roles, because it needed someone who could have brought the intensity and emotion of the 1,000 kilometre track to the edge of the Mongolian desert. The little kids played there roles extremely well and the authenticity seemed extremely real and it was great to see Chow Yun-Fat (Jack) and Michelle Yeoh (Mrs. Wang) in the same film, even though they didn't have any scenes together. Jonathan Rhyl Meyers (George Hogg), put in a decent performance, alongside Radha Mitchell (Lee Pearson) but for a movie of this scale, it really needed someone who could push the boundaries, so you could feel how hard there journey really was. I did feel quite emotional when I saw the real kids, as grown ups, at the end but it did finish quite abruptly, which was slightly disappointing after watching these orphans travel so far. With that aside, I was still amazed with the story and the fact that these young children all pulled together to get to there destination. I'm glad that the director didn't delve into the whole love story element of the film because it would have taken away how important there journey really was. Anyway, I found this movie very entertaining, and it's part of Chinese history which needed to be brought out, into the open. Enjoyable!

Round-Up: This movie really did make a massive lose at the box office, which is a shame because it really didn't deserve it. I personally didn't know anything about the film when it was released, so the studio didn't really push the distribution, even though they invested so much money into the project. Although Jonathan Rhys Meyers, 38, has starred in some decent films like Michael Collins, Misson Impossible III and Alexander, I still think that this movie was a bit too big for him at this stage of his career. He's not one that usually takes the lead in big budget movies so I personally would have chosen a more established actor. The movie was directed by Roger Spottiswoode, 71, who has made a range of movies like the Best of Times, Deadly Pursuit, Turner & Hooch, Air America, the terrible Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot and Tomorrow Never Dies, and with 5 more movies in the pipeline, he's still going strong. I doubt that this film would damage his reputation, even though it made a heavy lose but I still think that this amazing story could be told with a A class cast and huge distribution.

Budget: $40million Worldwide Gross: $8million

I recommend this movie to people who are into their drama/war movie starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Radha Mitchell, Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh and David Wenham. 7/10

A Story That Deserves To Be Told

[sddavis63 · 6/10 · 5 November 2010]

George Hogg was a British journalist in the 1930's who managed to get into Nanjing during the Japanese occupation of China, and who witnessed examples of Japanese atrocities while he was there. Circumstances led him to an orphanage, where he took it upon himself to keep the 60 or so children in the orphanage safe from the Japanese by eventually leading them on a 1000 kilometre hike to a place of safety on the edge of the Gobi Desert.

There are a few scattered scenes of excitement here, revolving mostly around the Japanese. Those scenes are well done, with some especially well portrayed strafing runs by Japanese fighter planes against civilian targets. For the most part, though, this is not an exciting movie. It's a worthy movie. It's a story that deserves to be told. Jonathon Rhys Meyers was quite believable as Hogg, and there's a great depiction of China - all the way from the scenery along the way as the group journeys, to some reflection (probably not enough) on the tensions between the Communists and the Nationalists, who worked out an uneasy alliance with each other to defeat the Japanese during the occupation.

The movie seemed to me a bit too long. In particular, after the opening few minutes, when the Japanese atrocity in Nanjing occurs, the next hour or so until the journey begins is quite slow going. Overall, though, this is a good tribute to George Hogg, and I especially liked the very moving reflections offered as the closing credits rolled by some of the orphans (now adults) who shared their memories.

Meh...Just Okay.

[Moovimn67 · 7/10 · 16 June 2008]

I just saw this in the theater and was REALLY looking forward to seeing it with the GREAT Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh, but although the scenery and large amount of money spent in making this, the film still falls flat. I am sure many people like Jonathan Rhys Meyers, but this guy CANNOT act to save his life!!!!!!!! Another reviewer thought that Radha Mitchell was wooden, but I didn't mind her performance although her Aussie occasionally slipped in. Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh's performances, while fun to watch, seemed a bit "phoned in", although the supporting cast of children wasn't too bad. The script was very, very weak and there were a couple of times when they had the Japanese fighter planes strafing the ground that you could DEFINITELY tell that they were squibs and did NOT come off as genuine bullets hitting the ground (too much spark and flash). Overall, really sad considering the time and effort that went into making this film. I likely WON'T pick this one up on DVD unless it's really cheap.

Not Up To David Lean, But Who Is?

[jjelgar · 8/10 · 1 June 2013]

It seems most of the reviewers have concentrated on the historical and philosophical aspects of this movie, but I'd like to focus on it terms of its success as a film. In general, I love a good epic, but this effort simply is no match for such brilliant achievements as David Lean's best -- Dr. Zhivago, Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia. This is a compelling story, whatever the historical inaccuracies may be; also, it's well produced, directed and acted, largely gorgeous to see, generally effective for this kind of big film. What it lacks is the physical and emotional sweep, the irresistible suspension of disbelief, the ability to grab your attention and hold it -- in other words, the extraordinary talents of such as Lean and a few others (John Ford, Henry Hathaway and William Wyler come to mind). Despite all this, I really enjoyed it on many levels and would recommend it to any lover of large-scale films of the Golden Age of Hollywood. I think it would not have suffered a bit had it been filmed in black & white. Nor did I miss the electronic enhancements so common in today's movies.

Another unwanted re-write of history

[jturnbull-398-395794 · 7/10 · 29 September 2012]

I have given this movie a fairly good mark because it is generally well directed, acted, and beautifully shot. It is also very good entertainment. But it is full of gross historical revisionism which does not do George Hogg full and proper credit and entirely omits the key role of the New Zealander, Rewi Alley, who was behind the orphanage and the leader of the march. So far as I can tell,the 'Australian nurse' with the American accent is a love interest invention and while mostly based upon real events, needlessly distorts history for some minor titillation (no pun intended).I continue to fail to understand while moving and gripping real life stories need to be needlessly tweaked when they more than adequately stand alone.Enjoyable but irritating at the same time if you know the true story.

Hogg by the way way, caught tetanus by stubbing his toe playing basketball in a dung ridden surface, not under a broken truck axle. This is just an example of the needless revisionism so common today. The stubbed toe could have been made just as dramatic.

George Hogg left deep footprints on China territory, something worthwhile fighting for!!

[elo-equipamentos · 9/10 · 20 January 2024]

Meanwhile was shooting his first major role as King Henry VIII on famous Tudors series Jonathan Rhys Meyers got the role to play a Bigger Than Life character of George Hogg, a notorious British adventures and freelancer journalist after travelling around the world ends up on China at 1937 when the powerful Japanese army invaded the country, in the meantime the war has broken out in whole world, there between Chinese nationalist and communist Hogg meets Chen Hansheng (Chow Yun-Fat) and the Red Cross's New Zelander nurse Lee Pearson (Radha Mitchell), at Shaanxi province.

Aftermaths he was moving to care a small orphanage, there he makes it work out, fixing the old generator, sowing vegetables and teaching around sixty Chinese orphans. After the Chinese nationalist arriving there, he afraid to their orphans should be recruit to fight, he decides moving to farr off Gansu Province nearby Mongolia, they travelled by wagons pulled by mules for 450 miles until Lanzhou at yellow river, aftermaths the local rulers allowed him five trucks for final leg into Shandan, where a small scratch at your hands will changes everything on their lives.

George Hoggs coming from a pacifist family and as such he keeping it untouchable as its own legacy henceforth, his life portraited in this picture gives us an small sample of such greatness, there he got highest regards from Chinese major citizens at Shaanxi province including an influential business woman, his sojourn at Chinese ground is keep alive for good, a man that passing by there left deep footprints wherever he were, sixty orphans witnessed such marvelous journey on closing credits, something worthwhile fighting for.

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First watch: 2024 / How many: 1 / Source: Blu-Ray / Rating: 9.

Less Glamour, More Facts Would Do Justice

[smatson123 · 7/10 · 28 July 2008]

Who was George Hogg, really? Do an Internet search and you'll see that his name is variously interpreted as a "footballer," a midshipman on the Titantic, and various unknowns in genealogy charts. But Nie Quangpei, a Chinese orphan whose life Hogg saved, had this to say: "They say there isn't a perfect man in this world, but Hogg was." Nie,now a middleaged tradesman in the PRC, seems to have had more insight into the forging of character than the writers and director (Australian Roger Spottiswoode) of the film. "He changed," says Nie of Hogg's transformation from a raw university graduate to a father figure to 60 boys under extraordinary circumstances. "He became a different man."

While the facts are not widely public except to Sinophiles, they are impressive on their face. An English blueblood and Oxford grad, the handsome Hogg (Jonathan Rhys Meyers)tried his hand at journalism in wealthy, up-and-coming Shanghai and could have led the good life for the duration of WWII. Instead he connected with a like-minded benefactor, Rewi Alli, to determine what could be done with orphans and the homeless. After mastering Mandarin he became the headmaster of Shuangshi-pu school, mostly for orphans, in a northwestern province. He made a success of teaching and administering there until fear of the oncoming Japanese invasion convinced him to leave. Managing to cross some 600-700 miles in the dead of winter with children and books on carts, he re-established them in a converted monastery--all with little help and few resources. Though keenly aware of the irony of staying in China while his own country was under threat, Hogg came to terms with who he was and was deeply loved by his charges in the process. Today a statue in his honor stands in his final resting place in Shanan, Gansu.

Spottiswoode, though, prefers to go for the blood, sex, and supposedly, the glory. Briefly seen as a journalist at parties in Shanghai, his Hogg finds a way to make it to Nanking to get the perfect story on the Japanese invasion, but while there nearly suffers a beheading when the invaders discover him. (In reality, the Japanese had their hands full with just dispatching locals with guns--the efficient killing method of choice--for the most part ignoring Westerners.) Just in the nick of time, Hogg is saved by a counter-revolutionary (a suave, goatee-bedecked Chow Yun Fat) and a beautiful American nurse, Lee (Australian Radha Mitchell), whose presence in circumstances of extreme personal peril is never entirely explained. But no matter: she is portrayed as the one who convinces Hogg to take shelter in an orphanage, to learn Chinese and otherwise take a breather. As she comes and goes to the orphanage, her existence means a film opportunity for romance, as though Hogg's real-life challenge of adapting to near-starvation conditions and nurturing traumatized children could have been inspiration enough for anyone. A hint of a love triangle also surfaces in the person of a beautiful, exquisitely dressed local merchant of opiates (Michelle Seoh) who will go to any lengths to serve Hogg's cause.

History, as documentarian Ken Burns has proved, can be compelling in its own right. It can both stranger than fiction and more powerful, as we see the choices others have made that we do or don't choose to emulate. A decent tribute to Hogg's life would have demanded that his unheralded acts stand in stark relief to the pointless cruelties of war around him. That didn't happen in this movie. His legacy to the weak and unfortunate lives on, most recently in a book published this January in Beijing (Ocean Devil, by James MacManus). And final testimonies at the end of "Children of Huang Shi" from boys saved by Hogg--boys who are now in late middle age--do something to capture the essence of respectful biography but still, not nearly enough.

The movie was exquisitely filmed in Chinese and Australian locales at a 40 million budget and unfortunately has grossed only 691,000 as of late July. If history and film could align a little more closely, I like to think that both the audience and box office would have profited.

sincere but lacks drama

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 8 January 2016]

It's 1937. Japan has conquered much of northern China leaving alone the foreign quarters of Shanghai. Japanese forces attack Nanjing, several hours west of Shanghai. British reporter George Hogg (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) arrives in Shanghai and sneaks into Nanjing. He starts documenting massacres committed by the Japanese. He is almost executed when he's rescued by communist Chen Hansheng (Chow Yun-fat) and his men. He is directed to an orphanage by nurse Lee Pearson (Radha Mitchell). Mrs. Wang (Michelle Yeoh) is a local trader. As the war approaches, they lead some sixty orphaned boys on a long journey to safety in the desert.

It's a sincere adaptation of a true story but the drama struggles to come out. There are many interesting instances along the way. There are some big scenes. However none of them really rises in terms of tension and the whole movie is unable to pull all of the disparate pieces together. JRM is good and so is the rest of the cast. There isn't much tension or emotional coherence.

Why? Why? Why?

[Karfoo · 1/10 · 4 April 2008]

The first time I heard about the premise of the film, one thought popped into my head: "The Sound of Music". The real thing was much worse.

Many questions haunted me throughout the film, all starting with: Why? Why did the initial description already show an erroneous grasp of history? (The Japanese took control of Shanghai, and then went on to Nanjing, all as part of a single campaign. Not many reporters tried to rush into Nanjing. In fact, many could not get out, which was why they could report what happened.) Why was Meyers' acting in the initial scenes so bad? Why would someone (Fisher, I think his name was) go boxing, and let others punch him in the face repeatedly, a few days before his own wedding? Why was the one scene of the massacre done so badly that it failed to evoke any emotion? Why was the beheading contest by the Japanese, reported as "The Hundred Beheadings" in the Japanese newspapers, in Nanjing not mentioned at all? Why were the Communists in Nanjing? (The city was a Nationalist stronghold, and the Communist had no military presence in town before, during and after the massacre. Communist attacks on the Japanese army during WW2, few and far between as they were, took place largely in the countryside. The Communists were busy expanding their bases of support with the farmers and peasants. They were conserving their strengths and letting the Nationalists (i.e. someone else, who happens to be their mortal enemies) do most of the fighting.) Why were they growing sunflowers, when everyone was short of food? Why did they have fuel to run the generator? Why do the uniforms of the Nationalist army look exactly like those of the Japanese Imperial Army? (The Nationalist army uniforms were gray.) Why would the caravan encounter Japanese army personnel going "the other way" near Lanzhou? (The Japanese only wished they got that far inland.) Why would Chen (Chow Yun Fat) waste three bullets to salute Shi Kai, and risk attracting attention? (These are Chinese people, not westerners.) Why did the film title really mean "Escape from Huangshi (and from the Nationalist for fear of conscription)"? Why did the uniforms of the police in Lanzhou look just like those of the police in Shanghai? (Shanghai police's uniforms were unique. The writers probably assumed police uniforms in China in the 1930's were like those in USA/Oz today, the same across the country.) Why would the officials in a poor town like Lanzhou just give away (not lend, but give away) four trucks which must be valuable assets of the local government? Why did none of the livestock get eaten throughout the whole journey? (As some guy near me commented out loud) Why was Chow Yun Fat just walking around and dropping in on the children once in a while? Why was Chow Yun Fat free to roam all the way over in Lanzhou, when all the fighting was in central and eastern China? Why did none of the kids have any personality? (They might as well have been cut out of cardboards. But maybe the writers got it right by accidence, since Chinese kids are mostly compliant like this.) Why was this in the end just another film about two westerners, with China largely the backdrop? Why was this film directed so badly that I felt nothing for any of the main characters at all? Why would anyone allow scriptwriters who don't really know Chinese history or the Chinese frame of mind to write a script and waste money like this?

Riding with Company for Thousands of Miles

[MacAindrais · 12 May 2008]

Children of Hueng Shi (2008) **1/2

(Quick Review)

Caught this one a little while ago. I was a bit disappointed, though i wasn't really expecting too much I suppose to begin with. The story follows the true adventures of British journalist George Hogg during WWII in China, who witnessed atrocities at the hands of Imperial Japan. Hogg eventually ends up at a school, where he reluctantly, of course, becomes attached to the children. Hogg, played by Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, along with the help of an Austrailian Nurse (Mitchell) and a Chinese Communist (Yun-Fat) leads sixty children on a thousand mile journey across China's mountains to safety, away from invading Japanese forces.

The technical quality of the film-making is solid - as is to be expected from Spottiswoode. However, it also carries the usual Spottiswoode flaws - namely more expositional dialogue than you can shake a stick at and convenient contrivances throughout. I enjoyed Spottiswoode's previous film, the far superior Shake Hands with the Devil (which itself it not without his usual faults), but I just couldn't get into this one. The dialogue is too heavy handed and half of it is dedicated to delivering a history lesson. Spottiswoode's desire to inform is certainly admirable, and the story and the background history certainly are worthy of telling. Nevertheless, attempting to deliver both in depth is a recipe for failure. The acting is for the most part fine: Yun-Fat delivers a fine performance, as does Rhys-Meyers, who I think someday will likely deliver an amazing rendering of a psychopath (the eyes!). Overall, I can't quite recommend it, and my review may be slightly off as I don't remember it very well (which may actually justify my review). I wouldn't however tell you to avoid it. I'll probably rewatch it someday myself just to see how this review stacks up.