Saving the children

　　THE film, The Children of Huang Shi, has something for everyone. Action, romance and stunning (出众的) camerawork combine to make this a hugely enjoyable film.

　　However, the storyline is also tinged (有……色彩) with sadness. It follows British journalist George Hogg as he lands in China looking for the true meaning of freedom. After the Japanese invade, everywhere he goes he sees China in crisis (危机), a beautiful country torn apart by war.

　　Hogg takes pictures of Japanese troops shooting a group of Chinese peasants. The soldiers find his camera and try to kill him. Just as he is about to have his head cut off with a samurai sword (武士刀), Hogg is rescued by Chen Hansheng (Chow Yun-Fat), a Chinese resistance (抵抗) fighter.

　　Chow is well-known to both Chinese and Western audiences and he is a key factor in the film's attraction.

　　Yet Chow is not the real hero. This role belongs jointly to Hogg and the children he is sent to look after in a remote orphanage (孤儿院). As he cannot speak Chinese, Hogg has a hard time at first – his name translates into Chinese as "Zhu" meaning pig, so when he introduces himself the children all laugh at him.

　　When he is on the edge of despair (绝望), Australian nurse Lee Pearson walks in to lighten his life. She gives him the strength to continue and the couple act like a mother and father to the abandoned children. Hogg teaches them English while Pearson heals (治疗) their wounds, both internal and external.

　　When the Japanese threaten to arrest Hogg and send the children to work in the countryside, the two Westerners decide they must lead the children to safety in northwest China.

　　Watching the group grow closer as they help each other through the hard times is very touching. You might think the way the Chinese accept Hogg and the way he helps them is unrealistic. But at the end of the film, you hear some of the survivors of the journey speak about their experience. The Children of Huang Shi is a true story. It is also a truly remarkable film.