“China Run” is not just a documentary about an American individual who ran 2,125-miles across China in just fifty-three days. The film has not shown only about the brotherhood of a man, it has an engaged audience because of the engaging personality of long-distance runner Stan Cottrell. The making of “China run” has been done by Mickey Grant.
By a movie like “China Run“, Stan Cottrell got success in convincing us that he never performed for the camera. The movie has shown his positive thinking about the country and its people. In the movie, Stan Cottrell seems to be in the process of discovering himself.
Like other several athletes, Stan Cottrell personality can’t be defined in a few sentences. Whenever he speaks, people want to listen to him and get encouragement. Cottrell had already completed many long-distance runs in other parts of the world before the “China Run.” It almost took four years of negotiations to fulfill a wish like “China Run.”
Whether it is about Great Friendship Run at the Great Wall or northwest of Beijing, Stan Cottrell ran through different cities, countrysides, huts, and temples. He ran in the sunshine and in the bitter cold. He chooses routes through well-tilled fields. When Cottrell showed his wish for “China Run”, he spent a lot of time in getting permission to make the run. He didn’t get time to think if he can actually make it.
During the “China Run”, when Stan went deeper and deeper into the countryside, he introduced himself with the farmers, tried to understand them better than city bureaucrats. When he approached the people, a stretch of land reminded him of his childhood home which was in the backwoods of Kentucky. Stan got emotional at that moment and confessed that he realized the true reason behind his phenomenal runs.
“China Run” movie describes the rich view of the busy daily life of all kinds of common Chinese, but this film has been rewarded more as a portrait of Stan Cottrell, an ideal and warmhearted personality.
