The Children of Huang Shi (2008)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Roger Spottiswoode

Writers:

Jane Hawksley (writer)
James MacManus (writer)

Release Date:

3 April 2008 (China)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

About young British journalist, George Hogg, who with the assistance of a courageous Australian nurse, saves a group of orphaned children during the Japanese occupation of China in 1937.

Plot Keywords:

Nurse | China | 1940s | Chinese Civil War | Journalist

Cast

Jonathan Rhys Meyers	...	George Hogg
Radha Mitchell	...	Lee Pearson
Yun-Fat Chow	...	Chen Hansheng
Michelle Yeoh	...	Mrs. Wang
Guang Li	...	Shi-Kai
Lin Ji	...	Horse Rider
Matt Walker	...	Andy Fisher
Anastasia Kolpakova	...	Duschka
Ping Su	...	Eddie Wei
Imai Hideaki	...	Japanese Officer
Sciichiro Hashimoto	...	Urbane Japanese Officer
Shinichi Takashima	...	Hostile Kempetai Officer
Xing Mang	...	Young Communist
Ruixiang Zhu	...	Japanese Officer II
Yuelong Fang	...	Rou Ding
Shimin Sun	...	Yu Lin
Xucheng Shi	...	Kao Tung
Naihan Yang	...	Ching
Weijuan Wu	...	Young Mother
Zhi Zang	...	Lao Si
Liu Hui	...	Fallen Soldier
Shunzen Zhao	...	Colonel Ma
Qing Xuan Alan Li	...	Wei Ping
Shu Li	...	Magistrate
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Shane Briant	...	Roger Appsley
David Wenham	...	Barnes
Hong Bin Zhang	...	SSS Officer

Directed by
Roger Spottiswoode

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jane Hawksley		writer
James MacManus		writer

Produced by
Lillian Birnbaum	....	executive producer
Arthur Cohn	....	producer
Yong Er	....	line producer
Martin Hagemann	....	producer
Alan D. Lee	....	produced in collaboration with
Peter Loehr	....	producer
Wieland Schulz-Keil	....	producer
Jonathan Shteinman	....	producer
Taylor Thomson	....	executive producer
Nina Yang	....	produced in collaboration with
Steve D. Yang	....	produced in collaboration with

Original Music by
David Hirschfelder

Cinematography by
Xiaoding Zhao

Film Editing by
Geoffrey Lamb

Production Design by
Steven Jones-Evans

Art Direction by
Xin Ming Huang
Peta Lawson

Set Decoration by
Dapeng Li
Sara Mathers
Daryl Porter
Duo Xu

Costume Design by
Kym Barrett
Wenyan Gao

Makeup Department
Cui Yu Bao	....	key makeup artist
Jian-Ping Liu	....	hair stylist
Limin Tan	....	key hair stylist
Yang Xiaohai	....	makeup artist
Diu Zhijuan	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Colleen Clarke	....	post-production supervisor
Xinran Cindy Li	....	production supervisor
Hong Wang	....	assistant production manager
Maren Wölk	....	assistant production manager
Jiakun Zhang	....	production manager
Jiakun Zhang	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Montague Fendt	....	first assistant director: second unit
Gerry Gavigan	....	first assistant director
Luc Gavigan	....	third assistant director
Crystal Gong Chun	....	second assistant director
Lemon Liu	....	first assistant director: second unit
Sylvia Liu	....	first assistant director
Simone Stock	....	second unit director

Sound Department
Michael Carden	....	sound effects editor
Zhiwei Chen	....	boom operator
Brendan Geaney	....	adr recordist
Chris Goodes	....	adr recordist
Jason Hancock	....	foley recordist
Xun Huang	....	boom operator
Stefan Korte	....	sound re-recording mixer
Qizhen Lai	....	sound recordist
Steve Lambeth	....	dialogue editor
Frank Lipson	....	sound designer
Frank Lipson	....	supervising sound editor
Jean McGrath	....	adr
Glenn Newnham	....	supervising dialogue editor
John Simpson	....	foley artist
Xueyi Wang	....	sound mixer
Li XueLei	....	sound mixer
Malte Zurbonsen	....	sound re-recording mixer

Special Effects by
Guangxu Chen	....	pyrotechnician
Jiandong Wang	....	special effects coordinator
Yuqi Zhang	....	pyrotechnician
Bozhong Zhao	....	special effects technician
Guisheng Zhao	....	special effects supervisor

Visual Effects by
Stefan Albertz	....	3D artist
Tanja Bonensteffen	....	roto/prep
Wolf Bosse	....	digital grading coordinator
Helmut Breuer	....	associate producer
Michael Brink	....	visual effects producer: PICTORION das werk
Joerg Bruemmer	....	digital intermediate supervisor
Joerg Bruemmer	....	lead digital compositor
Nicolas Bueren	....	roto/prep: PICTORION das werk GmbH
Cania	....	matte painting
Thomas Deckers	....	roto/prep
Doerthe Domann	....	roto/prep
Philipp Eckel	....	recording
Christian Esquerre	....	visual effects editor
Lukas Gehner	....	roto/prep
Sven Heim	....	roto/prep: PICTORION das werk GmbH
Kalle Max Hofmann	....	digital compositor
Jan Hübel	....	visual effects supervisor
Tom Kaufhold	....	roto/prep
Arne Kiefer	....	roto/prep
Saskia Klein	....	roto/prep
Lola Knoblach	....	assistant digital colorist: PICTORION das werk
Birthe Kohmanns	....	roto/prep
Ju-Hyun Koo	....	roto/prep
Ekaterina 'Kuki' Korabelnikova	....	digital compositor
Michael Krämer	....	head of roto & prep
Michael Krämer	....	junior digital compositor
Andreas Krieg	....	3D artist
Christian Laskawi	....	3D artist
Christian Meckel	....	system administrator
Sebastian Mietzner	....	roto/prep
Frank Mirwald	....	scanning
Nikolay Mishonov	....	3D artist
Philipp Mueller	....	roto/prep: PICTORION das werk
Rolf Muetze	....	visual effects supervisor
Benjamin Nagel	....	HD mastering
Frieda Oberlin	....	digital intermediate coordinator
Moritz Peters	....	colorist: PICTORION das werk
Linda Pleschka	....	roto/prep
Paul Poetsch	....	digital compositing supervisor
Stefan Rachev	....	digital effects artist
Frank Richter	....	scanning
Lisa Riemer	....	visual effects producer
Philipp Schneider	....	visual effects editor
Bastian Schreitling	....	titles
Noah Semere	....	roto/prep
Gerhard Spring	....	recording
Tim Stern	....	digital compositor
Julia Strack	....	roto/prep
Jonas Thorbrügge	....	conforming
Jonas Thorbrügge	....	scanning
Robert Tucker	....	digital compositor
Ralf Wacker	....	digital intermediate coordinator
Christian Wallmeier	....	3D artist
Aline Windolph	....	roto/prep
Kai Woytke	....	digital compositor
Jeff Yaworski	....	roto/prep

Stunts
Limin Chen	....	stunt driver
Feilong	....	stunt performer
Jingqi Kang	....	stunt coordinator
Guohai Li	....	stunt performer
Tengfei Tang	....	stunt double

Camera and Electrical Department
Andrew Jerram	....	first assistant camera: Australia
Jianmin Ji	....	gaffer
Raymond Lam	....	Steadicam operator
Raymond Lam	....	camera operator
Ellery Ryan	....	unit cinematographer: Australia

Casting Department
Shuai Ruby Hou	....	casting: China
Nikki Valko	....	casting: USA and UK
Xiaomeng Nora Wang	....	additional casting: China
Anousha Zarkesh	....	casting: Australia

Editorial Department
Haley Gillies	....	post-production coordinator
Pamela Hammond	....	head of post-production
Cleo Myles	....	assistant editor
Amanda Short	....	rushes colorist

Music Department
Arne Eickenberg	....	composer: source music
Norman Parkhill	....	music licensing

Other crew
Bayan Bun	....	production secretary
Guy Campbell	....	second assistant
Jiao Chen	....	assistant production coordinator
Emma Cooper	....	unit publicist
John Fairhead	....	safety supervisor
Diana Jackson	....	assitant: Jonathan Rhys Meyers
He-Yong Kang	....	location manager
Zheng Min	....	unit publicist
Tatjana Najdanovic	....	assistant: Miss Radha Mitchell
Robbie Simons	....	production assistant
Misha Skoric	....	assistant: Show Yun Fat
Oksana Sokol	....	script supervisor
Kityi Wong	....	assistant: Michelle Yeoh
Shenshen Xiao	....	assistant to producer

Production Companies

• Australian Film Commission, The
• Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC)
• Bluewater Pictures
• Cheerland Entertainment Organization (as Qixinran)
• Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen
• Ming Productions
• Rouge Entertainment Group
• Zero Fiction Film
• Zero West Filmproduktion

Distributors

• Blue Sky Media (2008) (Czech Republic) (all media)
• Cheerland Entertainment Organization (2008) (China) (all media)
• Dendy Films (2008) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Metropolitan Filmexport (2008) (France) (theatrical)
• RCV Film Distribution (2008) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Rouge Entertainment Group (2008) (Taiwan) (theatrical)
• Shaw Organisation (2008) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Classics (2008) (USA) (theatrical)
• Village Roadshow Greece S.A. (2008) (Greece) (theatrical)

Other Companies

• Bank of Ireland  production financing provided by
• SGO / Mistika  digital equipment

Also Known As:

Children of the Silk Road (Australia)
Escape from Huang Shi (Singapore: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for some disturbing and violent content.

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

Australia | China | Germany

Language:

English | Japanese | Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | USA:R | Singapore:PG | Hong Kong:IIA | Australia:M | South Korea:12

Filming Locations:

Chedun Studios, Shanghai, China

Company:

Australian Film Commission, The

Trivia:

About 10,000 extras were hired.

Heke is a hero

I watched this movie last Saturday, and here are some feelings of mine. "The children of Huangshi" brought me an vivid image of the reality during the pre-WWⅡ. George Hogg, also known as Heke was a courageous, insistent and responsible man. He treated the homeless orphans as ordinary innocent children while the Japanese enemy and the nationalists never showed any mercy to them. Children were victims of the wars. They lost their families, their childhood, and even their courage to live. Wars also raised the hatred in their mind, changing them into devils. In the movie, two echo scenes impressed me a lot： One is the photo of Shikai' family, the other is a photo of a Japanese soldier. Shikai saw his parents and his sister be killed atrociously by Japanese and since then he became dissociable and unreasonable and the only hope to him was the photo. When he got the chance to kill Japanese, he did it decidedly, only to find that a family photo holding in the soldier's hands. Heke tried to release the children's hatred and he wanted them to be normal children. At some aspect, he succeeded, because the children of Huangshi, e.g. Laosi, found his way back to be a happy child under Heke's education; however, the damage of the war was too huge to be cured. Most of the children were saved but not what they were used to be any more. Anyway, Heke is a great man. Although he is a foreigner, he is our national hero forever.