It's a
long road...
Director
Roger Spottiswoode takes us into epic drama with his tale of a
British journalist who saved an orphanage of boys from Japanese
invaders during the 1930's. Based broadly on George Hogg, a real
life hero, testament to his bravery comes from survivors of the
orphanage who speak sentimentally of Hogg during the end credits.
George Hogg (Jonathon Rhys Meyers), an adventurous
young ‘would be’ war corespondent, is in China when
the Japanese take over Shanghai. He manages to sneak through to
Nanjing where he witnesses a massacre by the Japanese and nearly
loses his own head to a Japanese sword – only to be rescued
at the last moment by Chen (Yun-Fat Chow) a Chinese guerrilla
leader. He meets Lee (Radha Mitchell), an American nurse working
in China and a colleague of Chen. Lee encourages him to take over
a ramshackle orphanage with its complement of 60 undisciplined
boys. At first Hogg sulks about this deal he’s been handed,
but settles down to do what he can to save the situation.
Unlikely as it would seem, Hogg manages to keep
the orphanage going without funds, but with some support from
a sympathetic local Chinese merchant (Michelle Yeoh). Finally
Hogg becomes a father figure to the unruly lot of boys, growing
vegetables, removing lice, teaching English, and trying to keep
out of harm's way. Both the Nationalist Chinese looking for army
recruits and the Japanese invaders threaten the existence of the
orphanage. There is a budding romance with the nurse, but as the
Japanese forces draw closer, Hogg decides on the unthinkable –
a trek with the boys of nearly 700 miles along the old Silk Road
over inhospitable mountains to find a refuge. Despite overwhelming
odds as they say, Hogg and his charges set off on the perilous
journey.
The first section of the film works well, with Hogg
infiltrating the city of Nanjing, the realistic battles scenes
and the massacre are good stuff. Roger Spottiswoode – one-time
director of James Bond (Tomorrow Never Dies) –
is at his best here.
Saddled with a plummy Oxford accent, you'd think
at any minute Jonathon Rhys Meyers (Match Point) will
chortle the Henry Higgins line about rain in Spain. He has to
change tack from naive war correspondent to big-hearted orphanage
caretaker; which isn’t easy. Meyers puts in a clunky performance
for much of the film, resembling a latter day British schoolboy
on a Boy’s Own Adventure. It's not a problem he bears alone,
for the love interest is distantly played by Radha Mitchell (Rogue).
Noted Chinese actor Yun-Fat Chow (Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon), though given a relatively small role, manages to
make his presence felt.
It
appears the crowd scenes use real people instead of CG extras,
which adds a nice degree of authenticity. The studio sequences
(filmed in Melbourne) seamlessly merge with the location material
shot in China. Indeed cinematographer Xiaoding Zhao makes much
of the impressive Chinese scenery in striking compositions.
While the story gathers steam at the beginning,
its loses puff when Hogg arrives at the orphanage. The middle
section is a bit of a plod, only picking up during the trek across
the forbidding mountains and desert. In the end, it’s an
OK movie with commendable intentions as George Hogg must have
been a fascinating character; but Children of the Silk Road
lacks the energy to bring its full emotional impact to the screen,
rather falling short of what was no doubt intended.
Footnote : The 1958 Ingrid Bergman vehicle Inn
of The Sixth Happiness has a similar storyline, Ingrid leading
100 Chinese orphans over the mountains to save them from the Japanese
invaders. This was also supposedly based on a true story, that
of a missionary Gladys Aylward. Despite being about different
rescuers, the two films have the children’s trek in common;
though the popular “This Old Man” marching song is
omitted from the latest exodus.
John Bale
