Christina Noble

The inspirational film Noble is very enlightening. It helped me realize that a kid's life in America can be so much easier than a kid's life in other countries. It also inspired me to help others that are not as fortunate as I am. The movie is very well acted, in terms of creating believable character. Noble is a film that touched me emotionally and mentally and definitely put a new perspective on life.

The film is about an Irish woman named Christina Noble. The movie shows three parts of Christina's life - her childhood played by Gloria Curtis, her teens and twenties played by Sarah Greene and her midlife years played by Deirdre O 'Kane. Christina has a revelation through a dream that makes her to decide to help the homeless children in Vietnam to prevent their childhood from turning into an unfortunate childhood. Christina creates very strong bonds and connections with the people in Vietnam while on her crazy adventure of helping children.

The main character, Christina Noble has a very protective, brave and emotionally strong personality. I enjoyed how the director Stephen Bradley separates the film into three parts to show Christina's difficult life as a young child and into teens and twenties. When she gets older, she starts helping kids. One of the interesting part of film is the editing which is not sorted chronologically. Instead, it is all mixed together. For example, there might be a scene showing her in her teens and twenties. Then, it's followed with one from her childhood. The next scene might show her in middle age. The acting is very believable. In fact, at one point, I found myself in tears and, at another point, smiling. The film is like an emotional roller coaster. The cinematography is also very good. It is very good. I was very impressed and inspired.

I rate this film five out of five stars and recommend it for children age 12 to 18 because of some adult content and some inappropriate language.

Reviewed by Hailee H., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic. For more reviews by youth, go to kidsfirst dot org.

Greetings again from the darkness. Here's what happens when you don't read carefully. I picked this from the Dallas International Film Festival schedule because I assumed it was a documentary. I was a bit shocked to discover that it's a biopic from director Stephen Bradley, starring his wife Deirdre O'Kane as Christina Noble. Fortunately, Ms. O'Kane and Ms. Noble are friends and the passion and respect shown in the performance allows the film to deliver the message and pay tribute to such an amazing woman.

If you are unaware of the Christina Noble Children's Foundation, it's worth researching her inspirational story. The film picks up her childhood in Ireland (with fabulous Gloria Cramer Curtis as young Christina). We see the gradual destruction of her family due to her mother's death and her father's (Liam Cunningham) alcoholism. The six children are split up and Christina is raised by nuns in similar fashion to what you might have seen in Philomena or Magdalene Sisters.

This (and some visionary nightmares) turns out to be her motivation to head to Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City in 1989 as a middle-aged single woman to try and make a difference for the ignored and abused street kids. Her tenacity and bulldogedness not only help raise funds, but also turn the tide for the local police and citizenry.

Christina Noble's network of homes have helped thousands of children in Vietnam and Mongolia. She is still working tirelessly today and everyday to make a difference. If you are looking for inspiration or proof that one person can make a difference ... look to Christina Noble.

What no one's writing about so far is the artistry. This film is beautifully shot, directed, edited. That dreaded, grey, Irish bleak is made beautiful. Truly.

The writing is heartbreaking and the excellence of the timing makes even abuse bearable. This film entertains, is easy to watch, draws you in - all righteousness and do goodery aside. Don't be put off by the saintliness of the topic. The film is GOOD . . .

. . . til about the very last fifteen minutes and then it does drag just a little and get a tad do-goody just before the end.

But it's well worth it over-all.

If you're hesitating because: do you REALLY want to put yourself through all that (as was I), I'm writing this BECAUSE I was, and then I thought, oh, just take a look. And I did. And I was instantly surprised.

It's GOOD!

Noble is much more than just a film biography. It tells without hagiography the story of Christine Noble, who against all the odds, survived trauma after trauma in her native Ireland and went on to help literally thousands in Vietnam.

The film-making isn't top drawer, but, boy, the true story is - there are good central performances by the Christines at their different ages and attention has been spent on costuming etc, in the Sixties segments - but this is really a film about one woman's extraordinary resolve to fight poverty against seemingly impossible odds.

This is a film I would warmly recommend - it has more to say about determination, perseverance and resolve than most films and it does not shy away or coat over its subject, It's well handled and well delivered and well worth your time.

This is based on the real life of Christina Noble. She is an Irishwoman who hails from Dublin. The film chronicles her life in flashback form. But we start in Vietnam in 1989; the terrible wars are over but never forgotten I fear. The scars are everywhere including in the many street children, some of whom have been orphaned and others have trauma that has left them fending for themselves in a country that is trying to rebuild itself with scant resources.

Enter Christina and she immediately knows that she has to help, not so easy in a country that has had enough interference from foreigners. We also see what happened to her when she was growing up in Ireland and the abuse and suffering she had to endure. Some of her experiences would be enough to make the strongest give up, buy she seems made of very rare stuff indeed.

To say this is inspirational is an understatement and I stumbled on this as it stars Deidre O'Kane who played the mother in the great 'Moone Boy' series. She is simply superb in this as indeed are the entire cast. Special mention to Liam Cunningham who plays her alcoholic father and puts in a brutal but convincing performance. I had few expectations of this but once it got started I was blown away. This is one you will want to recommend to your friends.