Review of The Children of Huang Shi (2008) by Ana B — 19 Jan 2011

This film is based, very loosely, in the life of George Hogg, an english journalist that landed in China in the 30's to report the japanese invasion. After a series of unforeseen events Hogg ends up in charge of a remote orphanage of semi-wild children. Hogg's love and discipline achieve a regular supply of food and knowledge, but as the war gets closer he makes the decision to take his 60 orphans and travel to war-free zone. They walk 1000 miles for it and they settle near the Gobi desert.

This is a expensive movie, with several impressive war scenes that must have cost more than a pretty penny. I liked it because it gives an insight into a conflict that has been neglected by cinema and because it is an uplifting story of human endurance. With a better script this would have become a great epic. There are a couple of drawbacks, the main one is that apparently the story has been sanitized quite a lot to make it more hollywooddy. This greatly spoilt my enjoyment of the film.