Roger Spottiswoode's true-life bio-pic focuses on a British journalist's efforts to protect a group of children from brutal Japanese invaders in war-torn China during the late 1930s. Young reporter George Hogg (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) travels to Shanghai in 1937 to cover the Japanese takeover of the mainland. Pretending to be a relief worker, Hogg makes his way to Nanking, where he becomes a target himself after witnessing atrocities. Rescued by a band of partisans, Hogg is transported to rustic Huang Shi, where he discovers a bunch of orphans living a Lord of the Flies-like existence at a school without adult supervision. Hogg becomes a surrogate father figure to the boys while a romance blossoms with a beautiful American nurse (Radha Mitchell), but when the Japanese threaten Huang Shi, Hogg leads his charges on a long, difficult trek across the desert and mountain trails toward safety in the distant interior. While inspiring, The Children of Huang Shi is not only like a lot of other Westerners-save-Easterners films, but also so respectful of its subject that it seems positively reverential. Ironically, the film closes with actual recollections about Hogg from surviving members of the orphan troupe superimposed over the final credits—simple testimonies that carry far greater emotional punch than the well-meaning, handsomely mounted, but overly genteel movie itself. Optional. [Note: DVD extras include the 12-minute “making-of” featurette “The Challenge of Huang Shi,” and trailers. Bottom line: a small extras package for a so-so biopic.] (F. Swietek)
The Children of Huang Shi
Sony, 125 min., R, DVD: $28.98, Jan. 20 Volume 24, Issue 1
The Children of Huang Shi
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