Customer Reviews

China Cry: The True Story of Nora Lam [VHS]

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This is one of the few videos I can watch over and over and never get tired of it. It is Nora Lam's unbelievable but true story of hard-won freedom from atheistic Communist China. It has all the feelings of security, insecurity, love, hate, happiness, sadness, pain, strength, weakness, confusion, growth and victory. You will know God is alive as you follow Sung Neng Yee (Nora Lam) from naiive college days to reality and maturity. It is 7 years old now and yet is timeless. I cannot wait to read the book and get more details than the video shows. I recommend seeing this film to every Christian, young and old, to strengthen their belief in Christianity.

This is the incredible story of Nora Lam, a woman whose unwavering faith in God has seen her through more upheavals in her life than most people ever experience. This film is an adaptation of her book and is a condensation of Ms. Lam's extraordinary life. James F. Collier, who wrote the film adaptation, also directed the film.

In the film, her story begins in 1941, when she was a young child named Sung Neng Yee and lived in Shanghai with her wealthy parents, Dr. and Mrs. Sung (James Shigeta and Frances Nuyen), amidst unparalleled luxury and privilege. She was a spoiled and pampered child, a veritable princess. In December of 1941, Neng Yee's life would forever change, as her family was forced to flee their home, when the Japanese invaders overran all of Shanghai. For the Sung family, a life of privilege would forever be a thing of the past.

Nine years later, in 1950, Neng Yee (Julia Nickson-Soul), a beautiful young woman living in reduced circumstances with her family, was a student at Soochow University. She was living on the cusp of Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution and was now pro-communist in her beliefs. Neng Yee studied hard at the university, and there she met and fell in love with Lam Cheng Shen (Russell Wong), a handsome young scholar with a proclivity for dressing in western clothing. Some time after graduation, Neng Yee and Cheng Shen married.

Then, everyone's re-education began. Under the auspices of the Cultural Revolution, her father, a well respected medical doctor, was forced to scrub floors in the same hospital in which he had been a prominent physician. Thus, was to begin the road of disillusionment for Neng Yee. Once persecuted by the Japanese, the Sungs now found themselves to be part of the collateral damage of the Cultural Revolution.

Shortly after, a pregnant Neng Yee and her husband found themselves subjected to interrogations by Communist officials, as they were deemed to be suspicious because of their family connections and because of that fact that Neng Yee had, at one time, held Christian beliefs. So, her nightmare began. Under interrogation, as part of her of her re-education, she re-counted to her interrogators her life at a Christian boarding school years ago. During the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, it was thought that confession and criticism were the first steps to social reform in China.

Neng Yee acknowledged that for a time she had turned to Christianity, only to have forgotten about it by the time she was sixteen, when she, instead, had turned to Chairman Mao for guidance. As Neng Yee's independent spirit began to chafe under the repressive and oppressive party line, under interrogation, Neng Yee found God again. She eventually found herself in conflict with the state and sentenced to death. Her moment of truth arrived when the pregnant Neng Yee was brought before the firing squad. What happened next is sure to make one believe in miracles. It is at that miraculous moment that life really began for Neng Yee. God promised Neng Yee that she and her family would be free and leave China. The film ends with that promise being fulfilled.

In actuality, it is not the end of her story but only the beginning. Neng Yee and her family emigrated to the United States, and Neng Yee became Nora Lam. She went on to live a life that is nearly incredible in terms of its experiential breadth. It was to be a secular life ultimately lived in the service of God in all parts of the world. It is amazing what this young woman would go on to achieve and accomplish in her life. Hers is, indeed, an inspirational story that will make one believe in a higher power, if one does not already do so. It is surely a story worth telling. Nora Lam has gone on to establish the Nora Lam Ministries, which is based in California, and she has led evangelical crusades in China and the United States. One should read the book upon which the film is based before viewing the film. As is so often the case, the book is better.

The problem with the film is that it has to cram too much into too short a time period. Consequently, it leaves parts out that would make the story a little more comprehensible. Moreover, while the venerable James Shigeta and Frances Nuyen give excellent performances, as does Russell Wong. Julia Nickson-Soul, as pretty as she is, has too contemporary an edge and lacks the acting chops to be truly effective or convincing in the role. Consequently, this film pales when compared to James F. Collier's other inspirational film, "The Hiding Place".

I show this video every year to my world geography students. The significance of the bird, gambling, sorcery/fortune telling, in the Chinese mindset is so gallently presented. You won't find a better expose of culture in the far east. The vindictiveness of the communist masters to people of faith is given a living face. National Geographic has a video called "Hong Kong: A Family Portrait", this is a marvelous companion piece; you would do well to watch the Hong Kong video first. China Cry is a winner. I've also read the book and the movie is in step with the book.

The acting is great. And Julia Nickson-Sole is convincing as Sung.

As a result of the Japanese invasion of China a wealthy family is displaced from their home and divested of their servants. The Commie replacement government was not very sympathetic toward this type of family either.

Now we see what is happening in degrees as she phased out of her cushy surroundings. She actually tries to comply with the new environment and approves of it.

Then the government helps her to learn about the Christianity by accusing her of going to a Christian school as a child. She tries to explain that she only went to the school and that did not make her Christian. The unbending government makes her suffer until in her confusion she turns to Christianity in hopes of a cure for the situation.

Bamboo Saucer [VHS]

I found China Cry to be a very informative and inspiring movie. Whether one is Christian, Buddhist, Islamic, Metaphysical or has faith in a Higher Power of any spiritual belief system this movie will speak to you. Sung Neng Yee's inner intuitive voice gave her the strength to survive and to endure, and ultimately to trust her inner voice "promise" that she would succeed in gaining the freedom for herself and her family. A wonderful movie with a message that we are each truly loved and guided if we would but listen within.