Review of Back to 1942 (2012) by Ming Siu G — 05 Dec 2012

A very powerful movie at times and pretty silly at others. The movie does a great job at showing the scope of suffering and hopelessness that so many Chinese refugees faced at this time. Politicians who are reluctant during a war to move scarce resources to help, and are ultimately powerless to do almost anything as corrupt middle men steal most of the relief. The movie also provides much needed funny albeit dark comic relief However, it also suffers from some very unfortunate unintentional comic moments, like during the middle of an air raid scene a man is able to spot a bomb falling from the sky heading for another man and pushes him out of the way. This moment cause my girl friend to bust out in great laughter while such horrible things where occurring on screen.

In all you should be prepared for what you are getting yourself into this is a 2.5 hour movie of suffering and helplessness. However, I felt the movie caused me to look at some things very differently then I would have before. Things that we might think are fates worse then death are some of the best opportunities for salvation. I was also proud that this story could be told. If you are interested in seeing a human WWII film that doesn't involve the Holocaust this is a very educational and ultimately fulfillment film.