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China Cry

Play trailer Poster for China Cry PG-13 Released Nov 2, 1990 1h 47m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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Based on Nora Lam's (Julia Nickson-Soul) book about her persecution as a Christian in 1950s China, and her escape with her husband (Russell Wong).

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China Cry

Audience Reviews

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Jos Mara P Muy buena. No os la perdáis Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 10/14/22 Full Review Audience Member An absolute gem!! Many life lessons to learn in this amazing story of love, determination, honor and faith. A MUST WATCH!! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member Thought provoking and emotionally involving. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Audience Member You have to see this movie, it's an awesome and is also a miraculous testimony! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/12/23 Full Review Audience Member Communist zealots inflict Mao’s Cultural Revolution on a helpless China. The movie portrays a privileged bourgeois family under attack by Mao's Red Guards, and the brilliant, beautiful daughter, Sung Neng Yee (Nickson-Soul), who eventually escapes to Hong Kong with her husband (WongIts turning point is an old-fashioned movie miracle replete with wind, lightning and thunder. Just at the moment Sung Neng Yee faces a firing squad, a freak storm deflects the bullets and spares her. This event, which she takes to be a sign from God, restores the faith she had adopted briefly as an adolescent when attending a Christian school in pre-Communist days. The plot development is a tad manipulative. Why do we have to have our heart strings tugged in order to feel outrage over the abuses of the Cultural Revolution? The focus on Christianity is not made clear by the advertising. This requires a little tunnel vision: Mao persecuted everybody with any sort of religious faith, not just Christians. "China Cry" therefore seems more like a Sunday school propaganda film, rather than a serious examination of how the Cultural Revolution destroyed many, many lives. Historic tragedy is reduced to melodrama. The melodrama is interrupted only by sickeningly brutal scenes, including a woman in third trimester being kicked in the abdomen. Other films have approached survival-during-government-sponsored-terror much more compellingly. It has a generally, poor narrative, script, and scene organization. Lack of funds to do some of the scenes right General clumsiness in use of voiceover. It is another example of the debasement of artistry over divinely-inspired good intentions. I'm sorry to see that this continues to haunt "Christian" movies to this day. Some day these people will quit bellyaching about the satanic plot that funnels all the money to secular themes and just come up with a compelling story, and get enough money and talent to do the job right. 2 stars. A really artificial movie Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Communist zealots inflict Mao's Cultural Revolution on a helpless China. The movie portrays a privileged bourgeois family under attack by Mao's Red Guards, and the brilliant, beautiful daughter, Sung Neng Yee (Nickson-Soul), who eventually escapes to Hong Kong with her husband (Wong). Its turning point is an old-fashioned movie miracle replete with wind, lightning and thunder. Just at the moment Sung Neng Yee faces a firing squad, a freak storm deflects the bullets and spares her. This event, which she takes to be a sign from God, restores the faith she had adopted briefly as an adolescent when attending a Christian school in pre-Communist days. The plot development is a tad manipulative. Why do we have to have our heart strings tugged in order to feel outrage over the abuses of the Cultural Revolution? The focus on Christianity is not made clear by the advertising. This requires a little tunnel vision: Mao persecuted everybody with any sort of religious faith, not just Christians. "China Cry" therefore seems more like a Sunday school propaganda film, rather than a serious examination of how the Cultural Revolution destroyed many, many lives. Historic tragedy is reduced to melodrama. The melodrama is interrupted only by sickeningly brutal scenes, including a woman in third trimester being kicked in the abdomen. Other films have approached survival-during-government-sponsored-terror much more compellingly. It has a generally, poor narrative, script, and scene organization. Lack of funds to do some of the scenes right General clumsiness in use of voice over. It is another example of the debasement of artistry over divinely-inspired good intentions. I'm sorry to see that this continues to haunt "Christian" movies to this day. Some day these people will quit bellyaching about the satanic plot that funnels all the money to secular themes and just come up with a compelling story, and get enough money and talent to do the job right. 2 stars. A really artificial movie Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Read all reviews
China Cry

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis Based on Nora Lam's (Julia Nickson-Soul) book about her persecution as a Christian in 1950s China, and her escape with her husband (Russell Wong).
Director
James Collier
Producer
Don LeRoy Parker
Production Co
Parakletus, TBN Films
Rating
PG-13
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 2, 1990, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 18, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$1.3M
Runtime
1h 47m
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