Christina Noble

"And what's your name? My name is Mr. Reception Desk. That's a nice name. "

"Noble" is nothing more than a biographical film about the (for me anyway unknown) Irish Christina Noble (Deirdre O'Kane). After a troubled and difficult life she has set a noble (Yep) target. Namely to offer the street children of Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam a better future. Mostly you see Christina in Vietnam moving heaven and earth to achieve her goal. A not so obvious task in which she has to convince the authorities and at the same time she tries to jolt foreign businessmen's consciences, so they are generous enough with their financial support. And so she tries to set up a shelter for those children in postwar Vietnam.

There's one thing you have to admit. This exceptional lady has sufficient reserves in terms of perseverance. Despite all the setbacks in her youth and the opposition she faces in Vietnam, she never gives up. And this thanks to her positive attitude. Throughout the film you're looking back at the turbulent life of Christina. It all starts in the slums of Dublin in the 40s. As a little girl (Gloria Cramer Curtis) she dreams of becoming such a famous singer like Doris Day. When her mother dies of tuberculosis and her father is unable to support his family (due to an alcohol problem), she ends up in a nunnery. In later life she's (Sarah Greene) a victim of a gang rape which in turn results in an unwanted pregnancy and her newborn son to be adopted. After moving to Birmingham with her best friend Joan (Ruth Negga), she is confronted with a cheating spouse and domestic violence. So you can safely say that Christina's life wasn't exactly rosy.

Perhaps that's why Christina demonstrates these unconstrained efforts when she arrives (thanks to a vision) in Vietnam. She is shocked by the appalling conditions in which children have to survive there. Perhaps the traumas of her own life are an extra motivation and she wants to give these poor children what she had missed all her life. A bit of security, affection, love and a hope for a better future. For her, poverty in Vietnam is equal to that what she experienced in Ireland.

Although the film lends itself to become a melodramatic tearjerker, they knew to avoid this anyway. Obviously Christina Noble isn't the only benefactress in this ruthless world. But her commitment and determination ensured that "The Christina Noble Children's Foundation" has already helped hundreds of thousands of children. Most likely this film will be broadcasted as an ordinary television drama. But the performances of the different Christina's are of an exceptionally high level. And despite the realistic and deadly serious story-line, they managed to incorporate a sliver of humor by means of a hilarious hotel receptionist. And in all honesty. This time it wasn't really bothering me that they used such a predictably happy ending once again.

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Based on the true story of Christina Noble, a charity worker from Ireland who went to Vietnam to help the street kids. This movie follows the stories from two different timelines. It opened with Noble's childhood days, from her struggling family to how she lost everything. Wanted to be a singer, but her terrible childhood turned her dream upside down and finally ended up in Vietnam finding her way to give children who needed love and care. Beside her intention was that no one should go through like she did.

It is a beautiful and inspiring story, but the movie was not great. Because the stars and crews were not well known, but their contribution must be appreciated to spotlight this great lady, Chritina Noble. It also won some prestigious international awards as to recognising its valuable message. This British movie was written and directed by the husband of actress who portrayed in the title role. It is not an entertaining movie, but just like documentary films it was filled with strong contents that makes it must not be missed.

7/10

I had the pleasure of seeing a screening of Noble in London a few days ago and this film really blew me away. I had read Christina's book 'A Bridge Across my Sorrows' and I was excited to see how the book translated to film. Christina is played by three wonderful actresses at different stages in her life. Gloria Cramer Curtis who plays the younger Christina was a delight to watch. Sarah Greene who plays teenage Christina was incredible, and she really pulls you in with her terrific performance. Lastly, Deirdre O'Kane who plays the grown up Christina gives an outstanding performance that will make you laugh and cry. Supporting actors are also impressive including Ruth Negga, who provided many laughs from the audience, and the Vietnamese children were surprisingly good, especially the boy playing Lam.

I liked the pacing of the film, although I feel the film could have benefited with a few more scenes of Christina's childhood. If you have read Christina's book, you will notice a lot of things are not shown in the film. I can understand why the filmmakers did this, as the flashbacks needed to relate to Christina's strength and key events in her childhood.

The cinematography by Trevor Forrest was beautiful, and shot incredibly well. Another great thing about Noble is the score by Ben Foster and Giles Martin which is one of the best scores I have heard in a long time.

I am thankful for director Stephen Bradley, his wife Deirdre O'Kane and the producers for getting this film made. It's an incredible story and a film people need to see.

While this is all sourced as being based on a true story, I almost find that hard to accept, simply because of the sheer number of hurdles involved, on top of the appropriate naming of the titular character, Christina Noble.

The film straddles two different arcs; on one hand is the early life of Christina, and all the hardships she faced, and it's incredibly bleak. It makes it all the more impressive to me with how bright and energetic a character Christina is by both actresses that play her as a child and a young woman, and it does feel like the same character the entire way. Christina's Irish upbringing also is somewhat familiar cinematically now as the state of Ireland's treatment of children was showcased recently in another true story, Philomena.

While her early life is simply, well, tragic, the other arc is of much more mixed tone, as she travels to Vietnam after her kids have grown up, now played by Deirdre O'Kane, and she does a great job as Christina, from the humour and tenderness to the strength and determination. She takes the role very naturally, and her portrayal of Christina is very warm, and I think part of this may be O'Kane's involvement with Christina Noble's charity beforehand, so I think her performance was strengthened by her personal investment. As she finds a calling helping the homeless children of Vietnam, and tries to figure out how to help, she serves as this great and uplifting protagonist, all the more impressive given that this is, again, actually a true story and really did happen, to at least some extent.

In Vietnam, the story isn't simply carried by O'Kane, but has a great set of supporting roles. Right off the bat, the employee at the hotel front desk that calls himself "Mr. Front Desk" or some such thing has a great role as this begrudgingly helpful curmudgeon, and almost all his lines were great, both in writing, and in performance (and I'm somewhat annoyed that I don't remember a name ever being used for him for me to give the actor proper due). The children in the film are great, and a few of them even have more involved roles, and they actually have all been, or still are, helped by Christina Noble's charity and that makes me all the more impressed by their involvement as well.

It would be very easy of me to criticise the overly dramatic nature of this film and it's lack of believability, but what's so impressive is that I don't think it actually did take that many liberties to make it the story it is, and as raw as the film is, it's genuine. It does make the film much more powerful, and the points it makes about being poor being a constant experience anywhere is a very salient one, and the way Christina steps up the challenges in Vietnam is extremely compelling. There's so many social elements on both small and large scales that this film touches upon, and that's quite impressive.

There's something I find very moving about a film with such a vibrant person as Christina Noble (as depicted, but apparently fairly accurate) that faces so many challenges with that strength.

Christina Noble is rebellious and loves to sing in the pubs. She had a tough upbringing in Ireland. Her mother died when she was young. Her father (Liam Cunningham) was a drunk. She was raised by abusive nuns. She leaves the orphanage and finds a friend in Joan (Ruth Negga). She gets raped and the nuns trick her out of the ensuing child. She marries an abusive husband and escapes with her children. She then has a vision of the ongoing Vietnam war. In 1989, she visits Ho Chi Minh City to fulfill her God given mission for the street kids. She battles pedophile, bureaucracy, and prejudice with the help of Madame Linh and businessman Gerry Shaw.

It's all very sincere and I dare not rate it any lower for the kids... For the Kids! Her life growing up in Ireland is rather interesting. There are intriguing actors. This is obviously a passion project for everybody. Despite some lesser elements, the movie holds together. The Vietnam story could use a bit more drama. It would have been helpful to have more professional help in the writing and directing.