dbrownridge Okay, first off, how can this rate 6.9 when by far the majority were 8 and higher...? Guess I could check my math but... gosh...Next,a capsule statement: This is Chinese culture. This is something you'll never truly understand. But you should really try...I have lived here in China a fair number of years (I'm Canadian). I'm still fumbling with understanding the culture. I mean a deep understanding, not Western superficiality. Try and recall, it's a culture of 5000 years, give or take. Western culture is sliver in comparison. Why? Because we in the West do not now live like the Greeks nor the Romans. Why? Because those cultures died. Sure, there are remnants, but sorry, they are freaking gone. But, the Chinese remain, contiguous, continuous, they never died. No one seems to 'get this'...The world's oldest continuous culture. The West can't comprehend this.Old culture is like 1970...Moving on, it appears to me most professional reviewers (I use the term lightly) continue to judge Chinese movies in the context of Western cultural perspective. I suppose they believe that having thought theydeciphered French and German cinema, they now know the Chinese. Wrong again. No surprise frankly.Chinese culture is so vast and so unfathomably deep, most will never truly understand unless you are born Chinese. It's called genetics.It's called nature and nurture. It's called socialization of the human psyche. And it's very very very old... Western civilization is an infant in comparison.But -- this is the greatest thing! It's called 'mystery'. It's roaming into a land undiscovered by yourself. Completely foreign. And then trying to piece together the meaning. It's like a treasure hunt.Frankly, I've watched a lot of Chinese movies, sub-titled and not, old and modern. And these have frustrated me beyond belief. Even angered me. Why were they so damn depressing was my first argument. At the end I felt like crap. But also, it made me keep thinking, wondering, exploring this conundrum. It angered me, but it made me feel. It made me feel something I hadn't ever felt before. And I know foreign cinema.This was different.It made me think. A lot. About history, about China, about human nature, about cultural differences, about art. About everything; about existence, life. Its essentials, its irony, travesty, betrayal, joy, hope, good, evil. The complex mess we call human. (I use the term loosely.) I just saw this movie for the first time, shame on me. I have worked and lived in China for seven years off and on... Anyway, I had to give it a 10 due to the 'other guy' (euphemism of for dork) gave it a '2' because it wasn't a 'leisure' film. I think this pretty much sums up the problems in today's world. It's called 'narrow-minded'. And that's another euphemism for a word I prefer not to write, being a gentleman an all.So, back to the point, another classical Chinese movie plot done with modern artistic verve. Classical as in almost everyone dies, anyone you thought was the hero dies, and no happy ending in the true sense. And yet done with a modern cinematic panache.And as I said, a deep-thinker's movie, with many unanswered questions.About life and living. About the true mysteries.Take a chance and give your brain a cultural work-out. I'm still out here on the playing field trying to learn. See you there...

leonblackwood Review: This is an epic and interesting movie about the famine in a place called Henan during the 1942 Japanese war which took 3 million people's life's. It follows a wealthy family who are forced to flee Henan with the rest of the many families who struggle to reach a better place, which will supply them with food and shelter. The journey takes its toll on the many families and the lack of food and freezing weather takes many of there life's. There's a lot of political issues connected to the reasons why they are forced out Henan, which are addressed in the movie but it's the touching story of the family which really made the movie for me. The acting is great from all of the cast and I really can't imagine how it must have been for the real people that were forced into this gruesome situation. I would have liked it dubbed in English so I could have concentrated on the emotional scenes but thats just me being picky. Although the subject matter is quite deep and the storyline was pretty interesting, I did get bored in some parts and it did seem to drag after a while. With that aside, the true story is amazing and I'm surprised that this epic journey about the people of Henan and there search for a better life, wasn't told earlier. Watchable!Round-Up: This is another one of those films were they put the big names on the poster and there not really in the film. In this case the people are Adrien Brody and Tim Robbins who only had small parts in the movie. To be honest, they were the reason why I rented the movie because I was wondering how they were involved in this epic tale but they wasn't the main characters in the film. Brody did play a massive role in getting the aid to the starving people who took part in this amazing journey but I didn't really see the point in Tim Robbins role. Anyway, I personally enjoy movies were you actually learn something and in this case, it's a piece of Chinese history which I hadn't heard about before. Its a shame that it didn't get the big Hollywood treatment because I'm sure that a lot of people will be shocked when they see what these individuals had to go through. They ended up thinking that dying was a blessing because the journey became too much for the people of Henan and the ones that survived, had to live with the fact that they lost there families and loved ones in such a terrible way.I recommend this movie to people who are into their epic dramas about the famine in Henan and there epic journey to find a better life, which took 3 million people's life's. 6/10

kosmasp There are many stories that can be told all over the world that probably are not on your radar. This is one of them. Even if you know the facts (the numbers in that case), seeing that playing in front of your eyes is something completely different. It's devastating watching events unfolding especially when it's clear that some things might have been avoidable.With some American star power (Brody and Robbins in this case in smaller roles), the movie depicts war and the cruelties to the common folk. So you won't be able to see much fighting (though there are still quite a lot of war scenes), but the effects it has on civilians. A difficult movie, not only because of the running time, but a very well made one. Even if you're not that much interested in History, this is able to grab you and hold your breath/attention until the end

lancequan2046 A tamer version of my review in desensitized words: Good film, could've been a great film.A rather controlled and somber depiction of a dark chapter in modern history, subtly echoing another tragedy that happened 16 years later. Surprisingly un-judgmental and un-sentimental for a historical film recreating despair and lowest possible form of human existence.Feng presents the multiple layers of clues and facts that lead to the ultimate tolls almost as-matter-of-factly, leaving the audience putting together the puzzles and drawing their own conclusions, which is a rather clever way of avoiding censorship and engaging the audience.Could have been A LOT grittier and more affecting. The acting is powerful in this film. However for a film depicting a major famine that claimed over 3 million lives in recent history, not much huger is shown as visuals in the film, most of the lingering hunger is talked about/acted out (as opposed to being displayed visually) which reduces the general affecting power of the film.Xu Fan and Zhang Guo-Li are amazing in this film with their acting. Xu gives her most powerhouse performance yet, portraying the tough bottom- feeder hillbilly b*tch who would attempt anything/everything in defending her and her family's rights to live. However for a country woman who's been starving for over 100 days and more than willing to sell her bottom half for a couple of crackers, what's with her double- chin? (think Jennifer Lawrence's face in The Hunger Game – she can act all she wants but I'm sorry, girlfriend is just NOT that hungry) What TF happens to her makeup artist team and special visual effects people?!Adrien Brody is effectively engaging as a very eager T.H. White who's desperately trying to expose the truth, whether driven by his journalist instincts, Pulitzer, or a genuine sympathy for the poor and depraved. However don't even get me to start with Tim Robbins - why is he even in the film??? The couple of scenes he's in are cringe-inducing. Even if you edit them out altogether it would not affect the story's flow whatsoever.