Filmed several years before its 1937 American release, This Is China came off the shelf when daily news bulletins concerning the war between China and Japan were at their peak. Filmmaker Leon Weschler tends to avoid politics for the most point, concentrating instead on the hardscrabble day-to-day existence of the average Chinese family. Though efforts continued to modernize the country, most of the peasants stuck to the old ways, especially in the field of agriculture. For the purposes of sensationalism, Weschler includes scenes of an actual raid on an opium den -- a by-product, it is inferred, of British intervention in Chinese affairs. Only towards the end of the film is the war with Japan touched upon; surprisingly, the film take no editorial stance at this point! This Is China was re-edited for American consumption by Ben Radin, with narration provided by Jack Foster of the New York World-Telegram.
by Hal Erickson
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