Movie Review The Children of Huang Shi
Jonathan Rhys Myers Portrays English Journalist George Hogg
Feb 18, 2009
The story of the last years of George Hogg’s life has been brought to film inThe Children of Huang Shi. As with many movies that have been ‘based on a true story’ the storyline and script have been romanticized and several writers have taken turns editing and revising it. The base idea behind the movie, however, is an adventure taken straight from the life of the Oxford journalist who would indelibly change a small part of China.
George Hogg: Journalist
As the movie opens the audience is introduced to young English journalist George Hogg (Jonathan Rhys Myers) who seems inexperienced as a war reporter but is filled with excited energy nonetheless. Hogg was in Shanghai during the Japanese occupation of China with the intention of covering the catastrophic war in nearby Nanjing.
Taking the identity papers of a Red Cross driver, Hogg and fellow war reporter Barnes (David Wenham) cross into the dangerous war torn territory. Captured by the Japanese after being found to have pictures of a massacre that he should not have witnessed Hogg is taken to be executed and is saved at the last moment by Chinese Communist fighter Jack Chen (Chow Yun Fat).
A Difference of Destiny
As Chen plans to move on with his militia of resistance fighters he informs injured Hogg that he can’t possibly accommodate the unsoldierly journalist. At the suggestion of American would-be nurse Lee Pearson (Radha Mitchell) Chen gets Hogg on a train to distant Huang Shi where he can establish a back-story for his reporting and learn some Chinese.
Little did Hogg know that at Huang Shi was a group of about 60 sickly children holed up in a decrepit orphanage. When Lee arrives, with perfect timing to rescue Hogg from the gang of kids, she explains her plans for him. The children, most being casualties of the war, are ill and underfed with a tendency toward bad behavior and disorder. With little interest in the tattered countryside and the ratty youths Hogg’s motivation to stay in the disparate orphanage comes from his budding interest in Lee.
Moved and Moving
As Hogg slowly bonded with the group of boys he got the old building cleaned up, planted a garden to feed the hungry children and trade for other necessities, and helped Lee get the kids into healthier habits. Over time he became more to them than just a teacher; he became a father figure and a pillar of security.
With the war raging on in China the distance between the orphanage and the armies closed. When the Chinese Nationalists came with notice that they would force Hogg off the land and conscript the boys the group had no choice but to move on.
The Journey
Hogg, with Lee by his side and help from his friend Chen, planned a trek that would take the group 700 miles along the Silk Road and across snowy mountains to Shandon on the edge of the Gobi. The journey took months as they traveled through treacherous mountain passes and battled sickness and death while on the path to freedom.
The end of the turbulent adventure finds Hogg, Lee and the children at an abandoned palace that became an orphanage and school, their new home. Hogg was soon taken ill with tetanus and, far from treatment, died with Lee and the children at his side. The English journalist who had come to China for war had transformed into a teacher, protector and survivor.
A Memory
George Hogg is still remembered fondly today by the last of his aging students who made the incredible journey with him. Jonathan Rhys Myers, Radha Mitchell, Chow Yun Fat, Michelle Yeoh and the many young stars of The Children of Huang Shi bring to life the haunting and romantic tale of brave survivors in a bygone time.
