China Cry
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Movie Reviews of China Cry
Movie Review: WITH GOD AS MY WITNESS...
Summary: 3 Stars
This is the incredible story of Nora Lam, a woman whose unwavering faith in God has seen her through more upheavals in her life than most people ever experience. This film is an adaptation of her book and is a condensation of Ms. Lam's extraordinary life. James F. Collier, who wrote the film adaptation, also directed the film.
In the film, her story begins in 1941, when she was a young child named Sung Neng Yee and lived in Shanghai with her wealthy parents, Dr. and Mrs. Sung (James Shigeta and Frances Nuyen), amidst unparalleled luxury and privilege. She was a spoiled and pampered child, a veritable princess. In December of 1941, Neng Yee's life would forever change, as her family was forced to flee their home, when the Japanese invaders overran all of Shanghai. For the Sung family, a life of privilege would forever be a thing of the past.
Nine years later, in 1950, Neng Yee (Julia Nickson-Soul), a beautiful young woman living in reduced circumstances with her family, was a student at Soochow University. She was living on the cusp of Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution and was now pro-communist in her beliefs. Neng Yee studied hard at the university, and there she met and fell in love with Lam Cheng Shen (Russell Wong), a handsome young scholar with a proclivity for dressing in western clothing. Some time after graduation, Neng Yee and Cheng Shen married.
Then, everyone's re-education began. Under the auspices of the Cultural Revolution, her father, a well respected medical doctor, was forced to scrub floors in the same hospital in which he had been a prominent physician. Thus, was to begin the road of disillusionment for Neng Yee. Once persecuted by the Japanese, the Sungs now found themselves to be part of the collateral damage of the Cultural Revolution.
Shortly after, a pregnant Neng Yee and her husband found themselves subjected to interrogations by Communist officials, as they were deemed to be suspicious because of their family connections and because of that fact that Neng Yee had, at one time, held Christian beliefs. So, her nightmare began. Under interrogation, as part of her of her re-education, she re-counted to her interrogators her life at a Christian boarding school years ago. During the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, it was thought that confession and criticism were the first steps to social reform in China.
Neng Yee acknowledged that for a time she had turned to Christianity, only to have forgotten about it by the time she was sixteen, when she, instead, had turned to Chairman Mao for guidance. As Neng Yee's independent spirit began to chafe under the repressive and oppressive party line, under interrogation, Neng Yee found God again. She eventually found herself in conflict with the state and sentenced to death. Her moment of truth arrived when the pregnant Neng Yee was brought before the firing squad. What happened next is sure to make one believe in miracles. It is at that miraculous moment that life really began for Neng Yee. God promised Neng Yee that she and her family would be free and leave China. The film ends with that promise being fulfilled.
In actuality, it is not the end of her story but only the beginning. Neng Yee and her family emigrated to the United States, and Neng Yee became Nora Lam. She went on to live a life that is nearly incredible in terms of its experiential breadth. It was to be a secular life ultimately lived in the service of God in all parts of the world. It is amazing what this young woman would go on to achieve and accomplish in her life. Hers is, indeed, an inspirational story that will make one believe in a higher power, if one does not already do so. It is surely a story worth telling. Nora Lam has gone on to establish the Nora Lam Ministries, which is based in California, and she has led evangelical crusades in China and the United States. One should read the book upon which the film is based before viewing the film. As is so often the case, the book is better.
The problem with the film is that it has to cram too much into too short a time period. Consequently, it leaves parts out that would make the story a little more comprehensible. Moreover, while the venerable James Shigeta and Frances Nuyen give excellent performances, as does Russell Wong, Julia Nickson-Soul, as pretty as she is, has too contemporary an edge and lacks the acting chops to be truly effective or convincing in the role. Consequently, this film pales when compared to James F. Collier's other inspirational film, "The Hiding Place".
Movie Review: Based on a true story
Summary: 3 Stars
The acting is great. And Julia Nickson-Sole is convincing as Sung.
As a result of the Japanese invasion of China a wealthy family is displaced from their home and divested of their servants. The Commie replacement government was not very sympathetic toward this type of family either.
Now we see what is happening in degrees as she phased out of her cushy surroundings. She actually tries to comply with the new environment and approves of it.
Then the government helps her to learn about the Christianity by accusing her of going to a Christian school as a child. She tries to explain that she only went to the school and that did not make her Christian. The unbending government makes her suffer until in her confusion she turns to Christianity in hopes of a cure for the situation.
Bamboo Saucer [VHS]
Movie Review: China Cry
Summary: 3 Stars
After reading the book, the movie was a disappointment because they focused on such a short period of her life. It isn't up the standards of The Hiding Place even though it was made by the same producer, but it is worth watching and owning.Movie Review: Dissapointed
Summary: 2 Stars
Movie included sensual scenes in it not for children. Story focuses too much on non-biblical themes. I do not recommend this movie.Movie Review: Very Awkward and Unrealistic Portrayal
Summary: 1 Stars
Sadly; this is not a movie about Christianity in China. It is not a movie about the persecution of Christians; nor about the growth and spread of Christianity in China. I only watched it because I was told that the movie addressed these issues that I have a powerful connection to and experience with. Parts of the movie may appeal to the fundamentalist fringe of American Christianity. There are approximately three scenes in the movie where religious belief or practice is actually a theme and it is presented in a provocative, opportunistic manner to enflame viewers' religious loyalties as part of a politically manipulative ploy.
Although the serious, traumatic, and unfortunate events and issues presented in this clunky and disjointed movie really did happen to China and to all of the Chinese people who were alive during those time periods, they are portrayed throughout this movie from a non-Chinese viewpoint and without sensitivity to Chinese culture. Character development is minimal, adolescent, and the main characters are portrayed too much as "special victims". Western ideas, behaviors, and attitudes are injected into scenes of Chinese family or romantic life where they still do not exist today, let alone in the mid-20th century. It seems as though most of the actors are foreign-born (away from China) Chinese and their body language, facial expressions, culture, and style of expressing ideas through dialogue is so non-Chinese that it makes for an absolutely bizarre viewing experience. The storyline, which with a slightly less myopic focus could have expressed the injustice and suffering experienced so universally in China during the periods depicted, might have been admirable to share; but the motive behind making the movie is so obviously questionable as to give the feel of a thinly veiled political propaganda flick. By remembering what this movie is not it reveals what it really is. This really just seems to be a dissident "anti-Chinese communism" movie. Since it claims to represent someone's true-life story there may also have been the goal of making a large sum of money through exploiting the strong political feelings held by some Hong Kongese and Taiwanese people. The ongoing themes are "how can we get out of here", "how can this be happening to me and my family", "we were once wealthy and affluent; so this is worse for us", "how can we get away from them", and the movie portrays complex political themes in a very black and white manner. Maybe this movie was seen as "a story worth a million dollars" by someone; but I wish that I had not wasted my money and a part of my evening watching it. What happened to the family portrayed in this movie was wrong; but so was the making of this artless production! The movie has a story to tell; but is equally without heart, soul, or culture as the invading Japanese army portrayed in the opening scenes and the oppressive Red Guard shown in the closing scenes; just prior to the depiction of the leading lady crawling through a non-existent desert no-man's-land between China and "freedom" in Hong Kong. At a time when we need to develop a greater cultural sensitivity to our brothers and sisters in China this movie serves to confuse and confound our ability to develop the empathy and understanding that will lead us toward a more peaceful and cooperative relationship.