the true story behind the movie
the story is changed.
the nurse: In Beijing he met Kathleen Hall, a New Zealand nurse whose mission clinic had been destroyed by the Japanese. She was smuggling food and medicines from the occupied capital to guerrillas in the countryside.
he didnt make the journey alone, there was another male but hes not given credit at all in the film, rewi alley. that would be the rewi you found
its actually rewi alley who was left out of the movie entirely. i read that it may have been to ensure box office in both china and america, that for americans it was that he was a communist. possibly for the chinese, he may have been gay
ie that: Primarily, he worked with the New Zealand-born communist Rewi Alley and helped him run a school for wayward boys, first in Shaanxi Province and then, after marching the boys over 600 miles (970 km), at the Shandan Bailie School that Alley founded in Gansu Province. In Gansu, Alley rented some old temples, turned them into classrooms and workshops, and appointed Hogg as headmaster. From the beginning the school was helped by New Zealand friends, who later formed the New Zealand China Friendship Society.
just looked rewi alley up on wikipedia, and amazing man, and it was some stupid book on him that suggested he was gay, his family and friends say they think they would have noticed
read the link, he was offered knighthood and turned it down
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rewi_Alley
and all of that changed to get box office. sick truly
another thing that they cut out, the nurse didnt hold him while he lay dying, the children sang him lullabies til he died
In July 1945 tragedy struck when Hogg died of tetanus after stubbing his toe while playing basketball with the boys. He was buried just outside the South Gate of the town, and Alley became headmaster.[3]
His pupils tried to keep him alive. When his death was inevitable they all sang him nursery rhymes until he passed away, aged 30.
another reference, the nurse didnt run the school after
In July 1945 tragedy struck when George died of Tetanus after stubbing his toe while playing basketball with the boys. He was buried just outside the South Gate of the town and Rewi took over as Headmaster.
and yet rewi alley is never mentioned in the movie
the school is still open, heres their url.
http://www.nzchinasociety.org.nz/shandan.html
read the history of the school
kinda blows your mind when you read about rewi alley on these pages and hes not a hero in the movie? completely left out
i believe that chow yun fat was a representation of Communist general Nie Rongzhen
you should actually read the wikipedia page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Hogg_(adventurer) to find out about hogg too, he did a lot more than the movie credits him for
but watch the movie, its wonderful and based on a true story. a wonderful true story