Hong Kong actor Chow Yun-Fat plays the part of a Chinese commander during the Japanese invasion of China in the 1930s in the movie "The Children of Huang Shi". [File photo: The First]

"The Children of Huang Shi," has already proven to be a box office hit since its debut in Chinese theaters on April 3.

However, the role of the Chinese commander played by Veteran Hong Kong actor Chow Yun-Fat has aroused controversies, the Beijing-based newspaper, "The First" reported.

The audience said the commander, one of the main characters, is different from a typical soldier during the Japanese invasion of China in the 1930s for he has stylish hair, a romance with a nurse and speaks fluent English in this movie, although Chow's performance is great.

Roger Spottiswoode, director of this epic war film based on a true story, explained that he tried to create a soldier in that period in his own eyes.

This movie is not a traditional Hollywood production, not a movie with cruel war settings and a happy ending. The director's ambition is to explore humanity in the war and to promote humanitarianism, according to the company that is in charge of the movie's distribution.

The movie tells a story of a young British journalist who saves a group of orphaned Chinese children with the help of an Australian nurse in late 1930s.

(CRI April 8, 2008)