Review of Red Cherry

"Red Cherry" follows a pubescent Chinese girl, ChuChu, and boy, Luo Xiaoman, from their prewar children's camp in Russia through WWII as they become de facto orphans caught up in the horrors of war. The film leapfrogs through time and bounces back and forth between the two kids, who become separated, making for a herky-jerky flow while giving us peek-a-boo glimpses of how they are coping against a backdrop of the deprivation and tragedy that is war. On the upside, the film is a well acted, engaging, evocative drama. On the downside, the DVD I watched had only mediocre video quality and poor, near monochrome, color. Recommended only for foreign film buffs into war dramas. (B)

Note - This is not the best movie ever made, it is not propaganda, and it is not seen through the eyes of the child.