China Cry
by James F. Collier
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Julia Nickson-Soul, Russell WongDirector: James F. Collier
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); Spanish (Original Language); Portuguese (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 103 minutes
Published: 2006-08-01
DVD Release Date: 2002-07-01
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Ross Records
Movie Reviews of China Cry
Movie Review: Interesting Cultural, Love Story, Drama that is also Exotic, Educational, Historical, and Inspirational!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the true story of a "modern" girl in China, growing up and falling in love during the Japanese occupation of WWII, and then things get even worse when the Mao Communists take over!
I first heard of this movie through Christian channels, because the film also shows how the heroine becomes a Christian, sort of "accidentally," when the Communists persecute her as an adult because she is a suspected traitor to the Communist Party, simply because she once attended a Christian grade school, when she was a child--and religion is the enemy of Communism (from the point of view of Chairman Mao's Communist Party)!
I didn't know what to expect from this DVD, and I was very pleasantly surprised by how powerful the film is, and how well the actors perform their roles. Some of the scenes are very gripping, tense, and even scary! It is made on location in Hong Kong and Macau, but for an English-speaking audience. All of the lead actors speak English fluently.
This film could easily appeal to a large variety of viewers. Hipsters that like all things Asian will appreciate the history and culture shown. It is also a love story. Christians will find it interesting to see the persecuted church being accurately portrayed. But this film is equally all these things at the same time! It is not primarily a Christian film, or a romance film, etc. It just has all those aspects to it.
Both of my own parents were of this era, growing up in Asia (in the Dutch East Indies, a.k.a. Indonesia), when WWII brought the Japanese occupiers to their homes! I am not sure if my folks would get upset by this film or not, but I know I was freaked out by some scenes, just knowing what my folks told me about what went on during WWII.
I found it most interesting to see how the paranoid Communists feared Christianity, and religion, as an enemy of communism, so much so that any religious people, even if only vaguely linked to religion, were harshly persecuted, beaten, ran out of their homes, and put into forced labor camps. My maternal grandfather worked forced labor for the Japanese, building railroad tracks for years, separated from the family. This occupation and persecution still affects my family relations, especially the way my parents view life--harsh brutality hiding behind a civilized facade that could break at any moment!
This film moves along at a good pace, in its 90 minutes. They cover a lot of ground, and you will be grimacing and upset at some of the scenes, though none are too graphic for children, the situations are too intense of younger kids.
My biggest inspiration from watching this movie is feeling guilty about how cushy and easy my life is in the USA, while these Christian persecutions continue around the world! It makes me motivated to do more for the work of Christ!
There is a 20 minute "Making Of..." bonus feature which is not mentioned, but is on the Special Features page. There you will see the director and actors talking about making the film, and at the movie premiere. You can even see the actual Nora Lam, the main character in real life, attending the movie premiere, but she says little or nothing. I suppose she doesn't speak english, perhaps, but she does have a Christian charity organization based around her, and they do missionary work in China.
Summary of China Cry
THIS DVD can be played in ALL regions. Includes English, Spanish and Portuguese tracks with or without English subtitles.Her story is wrapped up within one of the most incredible marvels in all world history: how the Christian church survived under repressive atheistic communism in China. But it did more than survive. It thrived and multiplied. We can better understand these heroic Chinese Christians through Nora?s story. Adopted by a prominent family in Shanghai in 1941, little Sung Neng Yee (Nora Lam) is treated like a princess. . . until the bombs drop, and the Japanese seize her house. After the defeat of the Japanese, she joins the Communists, believing they are the liberators of China. All goes well until she falls in love with Iam Cheng Shen from Hong Kong. Communist officials decide to break her of any bourgeois tendencies. During the next few years, in which she marries and has three children, she is subjected to excruciating persecution. She calls out to God for salvation. Miracles follow. She bargains for her husband and daughter?s release to Hong Kong and is sent to hard! labor, where she starts agitating for her own release. An intimate love story, sage of courage, and acclaimed inspirational gem.
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