CHILDREN OF HUANG SHI

Children of Huang Shi is a true story of unexpected kindness and heroism in the face of incredibly adverse circumstances… We all know that life being what it is, we often find ourselves under the strangest circumstances forced to do the most unexpected things… Such was the case for one young reporter who was sent to China to cover the Japanese invasion in 1938. He was out to get the “story of his career”. He ended up the surrogate father of 60…

George Hogg (a role supremely executed by the talented Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) was the name of this reporter. Young and more daring than a lot of his colleagues, he ventures behind Japanese lines in the guise of a Red Cross worker. There he witnesses the atrocities being committed and is almost caught and executed by the Japanese when he is rescued, badly wounded but alive, by Chen Hansheng a Chinese communist (Chow – Yun Fat who you will no doubt remember from many films among which we can state Pirates Of The Caribbean : At The World’s End). As Hogg is in no state to brave the crossing back over the border, his new friend takes him to an orphanage run by Lee Pearson (Radha Mitchell who you will remember for her leading role in films like Surrogates and Henry Poole Is There) to recuperate. The 60 very bedraggled orphans have a love-hate relationship with Hogg at first, but he gains their respect and love by tending to them and repairing the run-down orphanage… But dark days are not far. The nationalists are soon at the door of the orphanage, demanding to enlist the children into the army. George and Lee can only do one thing: Bundle the children up as best they can and set off on a long trek across China to find a safer place for their small charges…

Ok disclaimer. I defy you not to cry BUCKETS as you watch this one. It’s a fascinating account of human compassion and heroism (braving the steppes of China in mid-winter is no mean feat). It’s just one of those stories that remind one that there is hope yet for the human race. And it is also interesting to watch simply because well, generally speaking unless you are a historian (or live in a country in that area of course) chances are you don’t know that much about the occupation of China by Japan. (And I quite agree that for a Westerner it’s a strange thought, considering the proportions and the populations of the two countries but actually it was no laughing matter, quite heinous atrocities were committed during the occupation as the film will elaborate). The edition I watched (I think most editions in fact) ended with photographs of Hogg (the real one) and interviews with the surviving orphans who came to dote on him as a father and this added a nice touch up to the realism of the film…