Review of The Children of Huang Shi (2008) by Oxana — 24 Aug 2014

A painful, touching story of a young journalist taking on a scoop that will in the end change his entire life.

Based on the life of George Hogg, we enter Japanese invaded China - not that anyone is aware of what is really going on in there. After witnessing a cruel butchering of locals in a Chinese city, Hogg becomes the target of the Japanese for taking photos too sensitive for publishing. Rescued by Jack, a rather charming rebellion leader, Hogg's new life begins.

After being shot, Hogg is sent to the countryside to recover - in a dilapidated school for orphaned boys. A stranger and knowing barely any Chinese at all, Hogg would rather not stay there, but in the end he finds something in those children that forces him to stay and put everything on the line to help them into a better, safer, healthier life.

The actors did a wonderful job in this one. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and Yun-Fat Chow carry the story nicely. Michelle Yeoh is impressive in her small role. Radha Mitchell's Lee Pearson was okay, but her personal struggle with addiction wasn't all that interestingly brought into the movie, and it remained on the background as something that could have really been left out if not better introduced to the plot.

This might be a classical story of an outcast becoming the hero of the people, but seeing as this is based on a real story, and some of those orphaned boys are still alive, there's no denying that history is sometimes just as amazing as fiction.

A special mention should be made about the use of Japanese and Chinese languages in this movie. Instead of everyone just speaking English, it gives the movie a true sense of realism - especially when you mix it with the look of the movie which was very nice to look at with all its gritty details.