Invasion of the Heart
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS
Published: May 23, 2008
A Hollywood weepie snuggled inside a humanitarian tribute, “The Children of Huang Shi” molds the true story of the English reporter George Hogg (played by the Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers) into a chaste love triangle given urgency by the Japanese invasion of China.
The children? They’re there too, holed up in a crumbling orphanage eating worm-infested grain and unaware that their soon-to-be savior is playing daredevil newshound in a terrorized Nanjing. Reckless to a fault, Hogg is presently facing the business end of a Japanese sword, only to be rescued by a wry Chinese Communist guerrilla (Chow Yun-Fat, stealing the movie) and soothed by a brisk, self-punishing American (Radha Mitchell). Eventually these three will shepherd the orphans — and their own complicated affections — across the Gobi Desert to safety.
Roger Spottiswoode directs with old-fashioned style, avoiding the saccharine with realistic depictions of a war-ravaged China (where he filmed) and a cast well versed in stiff-upper-lip. The terrific cinematographer Zhao Xiaoding photographs dust devils and bullets as carefully as the luminous face of Michelle Yeoh, whose role as an enterprising war widow adds political nuance to a determinedly apolitical script.
Yet it’s difficult to care about Hogg himself, whose personality and motivations remain unplumbed. That’s why the testimonies from some of his former charges, played over the end credits, are so unexpectedly moving.
“The Children of Huang Shi” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). Veiled lovemaking, explicit opium-smoking and in-your-face killing.
THE CHILDREN OF HUANG SHI
Opens on Friday in Manhattan.
Directed by Roger Spottiswoode; written by James MacManus and Jane Hawksley; director of photography, Zhao Xiaoding; edited by Geoff Lamb; music by David Hirschfelder; production designer, Steven Jones-Evans; produced by Arthur Cohn, Wieland Schulz-Keil, Peter Loehr, Jonathan Shteinman and Martin Hagemann; released by Sony Pictures Classics. Running time: 1 hour 54 minutes.
WITH: Jonathan Rhys Meyers (George Hogg), Radha Mitchell (Lee Pearson), Chow Yun-Fat (Jack Chen), Michelle Yeoh (Madame Wang), David Wenham (Barnes) and Guang Li (Shi Kai).
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS
Published: May 23, 2008
A Hollywood weepie snuggled inside a humanitarian tribute, “The Children of Huang Shi” molds the true story of the English reporter George Hogg (played by the Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers) into a chaste love triangle given urgency by the Japanese invasion of China.
The children? They’re there too, holed up in a crumbling orphanage eating worm-infested grain and unaware that their soon-to-be savior is playing daredevil newshound in a terrorized Nanjing. Reckless to a fault, Hogg is presently facing the business end of a Japanese sword, only to be rescued by a wry Chinese Communist guerrilla (Chow Yun-Fat, stealing the movie) and soothed by a brisk, self-punishing American (Radha Mitchell). Eventually these three will shepherd the orphans — and their own complicated affections — across the Gobi Desert to safety.
Roger Spottiswoode directs with old-fashioned style, avoiding the saccharine with realistic depictions of a war-ravaged China (where he filmed) and a cast well versed in stiff-upper-lip. The terrific cinematographer Zhao Xiaoding photographs dust devils and bullets as carefully as the luminous face of Michelle Yeoh, whose role as an enterprising war widow adds political nuance to a determinedly apolitical script.
Yet it’s difficult to care about Hogg himself, whose personality and motivations remain unplumbed. That’s why the testimonies from some of his former charges, played over the end credits, are so unexpectedly moving.
“The Children of Huang Shi” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). Veiled lovemaking, explicit opium-smoking and in-your-face killing.
THE CHILDREN OF HUANG SHI
Opens on Friday in Manhattan.
Directed by Roger Spottiswoode; written by James MacManus and Jane Hawksley; director of photography, Zhao Xiaoding; edited by Geoff Lamb; music by David Hirschfelder; production designer, Steven Jones-Evans; produced by Arthur Cohn, Wieland Schulz-Keil, Peter Loehr, Jonathan Shteinman and Martin Hagemann; released by Sony Pictures Classics. Running time: 1 hour 54 minutes.
WITH: Jonathan Rhys Meyers (George Hogg), Radha Mitchell (Lee Pearson), Chow Yun-Fat (Jack Chen), Michelle Yeoh (Madame Wang), David Wenham (Barnes) and Guang Li (Shi Kai).
