No more than what it is

Rating: Null/10 (10 December 2002)

I reviewed the reviews. We all slam on critics for their obsessive broad stroking of films. Yet I see much of that here. The movie is more of a human charactor study than anything else. Many slam the movie for not making a big issue of their particular perspective of wartime China. But look closer at what is happening in the film.
You start with a kid that is spoiled. Yes he gets slapped by his house person. Given the implied behavior of the kid, I'd slap him too. But let the story progress from there.
Take a spoiled kid and toss him into a new reality. One that is unprotected. He must now deal with every day using the behaviors as he only knows how. So to some, many of his reactions may seem abstract or hard to follow. Lets face it, kids do not see the world as adults do. And reality is pretty tough to understand for them at times. But as time goes on, the kid is broken down more in to a child seeking survival.

To look at this movie expecting political comment is unfair. A child does not see the world in a political way. As the film travels on, we see how a child must try and figue out just what is real,what is going on, where is safety, where is the security(of family) and adapt. This movie shows how easy it is for a young mind to get lost in all of the changes of the world around him. I do not see any indication in the film that "Jim" aligns himself with anyone or cause. What he see's in the Japanese boy in the camp is simply another boy. (The contrast and clash of their pasts and destinies are interesting).
The exposure "Jim" is given to the confused World during wartime is real. In the end, we do not see him as the matured man of the world. We see a worn out spent individual that is simply human and survided.
If you go into this movie without trying to politisize or over complicate it, you will find it quite enjoyable. Go looking for a political statement or docu-drama, and you will not like it.