The Children of Huang Shi

Much better performances come from Chow Yun Fat as resistance leader Chen, and the luminous Michelle Yeoh as a merchant's widow who helps supply Hogg's children with seed to grow crops. The core event of the story is also well depicted: Oxford-educated Hogg became headmaster of a school for displaced boys and, when the Japanese army advanced, led them on an epic mountain trek of more than 700 miles to a safe location near the borders of Tibet and Mongolia in 1945. ... Full Review

It's about here that the story takes a sharp turn from a somewhat exciting war drama about a neophyte in over his head to a cross between Au Revoir les Enfants and The King and I . A decadent, exotic city, the brink of war, the sweep of history, a gang of scruffy urchins, the lips and eyes of Jonathan Rhys Meyers - these are the main ingredients in Roger Spottiswoode 's The Children of Huang Shi , a small-scale, would-be epic about an inexperienced British journalist whose accidental arrival in Japanese-oc ... Full Review

And yet the story of "The Children of Huang Shi" is so moving, the children of the film are so natural, the work of Mitchell, Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon") as a merchant and supplier of opium to those who need it, is so magnetic, that the film survives its miscasting of the lead. ... Full Review

However, the facts protect the story from criticism of it being another film that celebrates a white hero saving members of a non-white culture. The main kids are terrific, and the cinematography by Zhao Xiaoding is stirring without being distracting. ... Full Review

Despite occasional tense moments, the story travels just about the route one would expect, including planting a vegetable garden to feed the boys. More interesting is Michelle Yeoh's Mrs. Wang, a sort of "dragon lady" merchant who befriends Hogg, keeps him supplied with provisions and seeds and even her secret stash of medicines and morphine. ... Full Review

The Children of Huang Shi is so desperate to be the Asian Schindler's List , an example of atrocity draped in abject artistry....While it would definitely make a far better documentary than a drama (it is based on a true story and an actual person, after all), The Children of Huang Shi has some potential at first.....The Children of Huang Shi is not a bad movie.....Unfortunately, that's just the start of this film's problems.....in the right direction..... ... Full Review

The film is beautifully shot and the performances are competent, even if the always welcome Yeoh barely gets much screen time as a sympathetic merchant. And that's not the only promise left unfilled by this stuffy, by-the-numbers drama. ... Full Review

It's about here that the story takes a sharp turn from a somewhat exciting war drama about a neophyte in over his head to a cross between Au Revoir les Enfants and The King and I . A decadent, exotic city, the brink of war, the sweep of history, a gang of scruffy urchins, the lips and eyes of Jonathan Rhys Meyers - these are the main ingredients in Roger Spottiswoode's The Children of Huang Shi , a small-scale, would-be epic about an inexperienced British journalist whose accidental arrival in Japanese-occ ... Full Review

Children of Huang Shi" is too banal, too unadventurous to evoke a seemingly required teary-eyed response. Mostly the film is lost to the golden glow of sainthood; a label I wouldn't dare challenge, but a screen sensation that doesn't offer anything for the drama to chew on. ... Full Review

As well, the narrative deserves more than an obvious and improbable love story between two good-looking movie stars. There's a feeling of skimming the surface of a true story that would be better served by being grittier or more challenging. ... Full Review