The movies

I went to the movies last night to see a film shot in a part of the world I really want to visit one day. I watch anything set in this place, the Silk Road, the ancient trade link between China and Europe. I really enjoyed the book by the Morgans who travelled there by bike and then of course there's Charlie and Ewan's adventures.

Children of the Silk Road was based on real events and was an amazing story set in war torn China in the 1930’s. The film's about the relationship between a young English journalist, George Hogg played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers, an American nurse (Radha Mitchell) and the leader of a Chinese partisan group (Chow Yun Fat) who meet in desperate and unexpected circumstances. Together they rescue 60 orphaned children, leading them on an extraordinary journey across hundreds of miles of treacherous terrain, through snow-covered mountains and an unforgiving desert. Along the way they discover the true meaning of love, responsibility and courage.

I read some of the reviews before I went and wished I hadn't. They were not that flattering and while some of the comments were true, this epic story was well worth watching. Most of the children were not actors and they were brilliant, boys being boys with antics that crossed cultural boundaries. The very end, just before the credits and just after the end of the story, tied the story together. I won't give any more away. It's not a DVD movie, it needs a big screen to do credit to the sweeping vistas and beauty that is China and the Silk Road.