Devils on the Doorstep (2000) User Reviews

Why didn't this win the Oscar?!

[Hunky Stud · 9/10 · 22 July 2008]

This is truly a masterpiece. I didn't plan to write a comment, but there are only 15 comments. Then I found out that it was banned by the Chinese State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television due to its political incorrectness. So I am compelled to write a comment. This film was never released in mainland China. Is that government that afraid? Why do the Chinese filmmakers have no freedom? Those great Chinese directors, actors can not live on forever. When will the Chinese filmmakers have the freedom to make films that they want, so those films can be forever treasured by the generations forever.

This film reminded me of the other film called "Life is beautiful." They are both funny and about world war II. So few people in the West knew about the Japanese invasion of China during world war II, and millions of Chinese were brutally killed. Who could have thought that this kind of war movie can be super funny and meaningful? If they can give Oscar to "Life is beautiful" and "Schindler's List", they should also give Oscar's Best Foreign Film of the year or maybe Best film of the year to this film. This is just a rare epic coming from China. I have seen quite a few so-called best foreign film of the year given by the Academy, they were not great at all.

Most of the Chinese and Japanese actors were pretty good. However, David Wu as Major Gao did not perform well. When he first appeared, he actually was speaking Cantonese instead of the standard Mandarin Chinese. Then when he was delivering his speech, he also said a few words in Cantonese. Overall, he doesn't look like a Chinese nationalist army major at all.

Comparing to "Life is Beautiful", this film lacks of the beautiful music. I can laugh and cry when I watch "Life is beautiful." I can only laugh and feel sad when I watch this one.

A Bright, Shining example of Chinese cinema.

[danc1987 · 9/10 · 12 November 2007]

There is no question that the Japanese occupation of mainland China during WWII was marked by unimaginable cruelty and actions so barbaric that any sane human being would shudder at the description of them. This is all obvious to anyone who has had an unbiased, detailed education of that dreadful time period. On the surface, Jiang Wen's film touches on these acts to illuminate what it must have been like for the Chinese to cope with the Japanese "devils". But a thorough viewing of the film reveals so many more questions not just about the Chinese and Japanese but about the universal relationship between war and humans. Wen directs this film in a peculiar way. He uses comedy that forces us to laugh at things that we shouldn't. You find yourself smirking or smiling in moments until you catch yourself and remember that the whole scene in which you were laughing at was where character's lives were at stake. Most people will read this and not see what is so masterful about this approach. What makes Wen's quirkiness work is that it illuminates the naivety of human beings while at the same time brings these characters to life, which in the end leaves us trembling with emotion. It is a film that transcends common conceptions about war. A masterpiece.

Essential and historic Asian cinema

[andrewschrock · 9/10 · 7 May 2005]

Do I feel late to the party on this one - how could I overlook this for the last 4 years? I was floored.

Watching "Devils on the Doorstep" reminded me of the first time I watched "seven samurai". Barring obvious comparisons such as being shot in black & white, using a combination of drama and comedy, and finishing it off with a startling ending, the movie's sense of time was fluid thanks to an excellent screenplay. Although the movie is lengthy, like many gems of Asian cinema, it was anything but a chore to watch it.

The plot is deceivingly simple, come alive thanks to Jiang's poetic directorial style. His characterization is succinct, but evocative, built up from his own personal memories. His vision of war has many ties to US cinema, with delirious, often hauntingly surreal, images of people trying to reconcile their own individual nature with that of being part of a collective.

I can see why Chinese censors would take offense to the film. China is painted as the victim that it is so often stereotyped as. However, with the country's continued objections against the Japanese glossing over wartime indiscretions, it could be seen as having nationalist overtones. I don't see the film as necessarily sympathetic to the Japanese: at the end of the movie, they are still the "devils". Additionally, when the plot is extrapolated outside of the film itself, the irony is of course that Japan was defeated by a powerful external force due to their brash political maneuvering.

A must-see film, especially for Chinese

[blowaway · 10/10 · 17 October 2007]

This is the second time I see this film. As a Chinese, I feel a strong urge as well as an obligation to write some comment about it. I can safely conclude that the film vividly showed what the real situation was during the Japanese occupation in China back in WW2.

It is totally different from those main-stream anti-Japanese war films we can see throughout our early life, which still can be seen being replayed in CCTV (China Central Television) over and again again. In those films, almost all Chinese, young or old, men or women, were all warriors fighting against the Japanese invaders. We all know that it wasn't true. From this film, we can see how ignorant and stupid those Chinese peasants were. It gives us a chance to review what was really going on during that time. It is a history we cannot deny. As a matter of fact, this film was banned in mainland China by some kind of a "censorship" mainly because it revealed so much truth.

The director of the film, Jiangwen, is my only favorite director from China. You can say he is ambitious, a genius or whatever. But i say that he is a director with a sense of responsibility to our nation, to our people, to those heroes and civilians died in the war. He is not afraid to dig up the less-bright side of the history and present it to us, to those younger generation who never go through the war. It reminds us never to forget history.

Masterpiece from Asia, universal message on human nature.

[StephaneD · 10/10 · 11 October 2001]

This is a really beautiful movie. The picture is marvelous, the plot is great; it's amazingly funny, I surprised myself keeping laughing very often on jokes in Chinese language!!!...Black and White is a really justified choice. The story is of the japanese occupation of China during WWII is very new to westerners. Cruelty of the then Japanese occupants is sudden and devastating. The end is a terrible movie scene, one of the most stunning ends I've ever seen.

I'm usually into us or european movies, and not at all into asian movies, but I think it's one of the greatest chinese movies I've ever seen, with hong-kong's "in the mood for love" and taiwanese "yi yi". But it's much easier to see : anyone could see it without getting bored.

It's been acclaimed in France and Cannes Film Festival. It should have deserved an international acclaim. I keep recommending it around me in Paris. Hope it's played elsewhere in other western countries; and in Japan of course... 10/10

A masterpiece from Jiang Wen, again

[law82 · 10/10 · 1 February 2004]

After enjoying the excellent In the Heat of the Day, I really looked forward to watching this movie and had high expectation on it, and I certainly wasn't disappointed.

This movie is a tragi-comedy about the Japanese invasion of China, which of course is no laughing matter, but this movie is genuinely funny and never falls into the bad taste category because it shows you the brutality of war and how it affects the Chinese people (albeit from a different angle than one would expect).

The ending, which I am not going to give away, is excellent and I think it is the most courageous war movie ending I have ever seen. However, one thing about Jiang Wen's movies is that they are so technically interesting that it is difficult to see what his movie is about as a whole.

Anyway, I highly recommend this film.

The Chinese "Underground"! A great, tragic, dramedy!

[directjw · 10/10 · 23 April 2001]

Like Emir Kusturica's Underground, Devils on the Doorstep is a great, epic comedy-drama which examines how history can effect and destroy a small group of people. Like Underground, Devils mixes Rabelaisian humour with powerful drama to create a rousing, albeit bitter, commentary on the foibles of the human condition.

I watched the 139 minute version at the San Francisco International Film Festival, and when the film was over, the audience broke out into thunderous applause. I believe that 139 minutes is long enough for this film, although it would be interesting to see the 162 minute version.

Devils begins as a humorous comedy-drama examining how a group of Chinese villagers react to two Japanese POWS who are dumped mysteriously into their village. It is both touching and hilarious to see how the villagers deal with the POWS. However, Devils takes an unexpectedly tragic and violent turn in the last quarter of the film, when the realities of WWII destroy the lives of all the villagers.

The climatic party scene near the end of the film is one of the best scenes I have ever seen- the laughter and joy at the beginning of the party cushion us for the horrific violence which ensues.

Watch Devils on the Doorstep and enjoy the human comedy, but be warned about the last act of the film, which is unforgettably powerful and wrenching.

War conquers all

[stripy · 10/10 · 5 June 2003]

The movie is about the Japanese occupation of China during WWII. It is very humorous and shows the human side of people in the war, be it Japanese or Chinese. Because of that the movie was heavily criticized by the Chinese government who accuses it of being too sympathetic to the Japanese. They even object to one scene where a Chinese peasant feeds a Japanese prisoner because (as they put it) no self respecting Chinaman would do that when food was scarce.

While most war time movies seen in the West concentrate on war in Europe and Pacific, this one gives another perspective. Though at times hilarious and grotesque the movie ends in tragedy as the might of war taker over humanity again. It's a must see: 10/10

The war is a machine, it eats up humanity

[oldblack1 · 10/10 · 17 December 2001]

Guizi Lai Le is such a powerful movie that really moves me. Jiang wen's great talent to express humanity in film is approved again. (For those who has not seen his debut: In the Heat of the Sun, you really should not miss it. )

I read this movie as a song for humanity. The fate of characters are so dramatic but at the same time so real. Hanaya, Japanese prisoner, after being held and fed by Chinese villagers, is on the edge of being lifted from a Japanese militarism twisted spirit and turning back into a human. However, when he returns to Japanese troops camp, the humanity is ripped off by reality again. Dasan, Chinese peasant, after the villagers being slaughtered and Japanese surrender, turns into a revenging killer of Japanese prisoners and finally end up with being executed as a criminal by Hanaya. The fate of both reveals the weakness of individual in front of the war. The war is a machine and it eats up the humanity.

The acting is great. I heard two Japanese actors don't want to be in the movie when they know the plot. But finally they did a good job in this movie. The performance, the set, the local dialect are all giving an authentic touch. Plus it's full of humor. Highly recommended!

Brilliant Anti-War Film

[Otoboke · 12 October 2007]

'Devils on the Doorstep' is a surprisingly original and well-made film from China, detailing their occupation at the end of World War II by focusing in on a small village under Japanese rule. The film mixes war, violence, comedy, fear and tragedy in a careful manner, making sure that the sometimes opposing styles never clash. The only problem I have with the film is its somewhat uneven and oddly paced structure, which unfortunately does hinder an otherwise perfect and very well made feature.

Perhaps one my favourite aspects of 'Devils' is its photography which is mostly shot in black and white save for a scene near the end. The whole film looks marvellous and the lighting is used appropriately to cast dramatic shadows where needed, helping to create very memorable and inspiring scenes. The actors themselves do a brilliant job bringing their characters to life, being animated at all times, never once giving a dull or dry performance. When taken in addition to the fantastic direction from Wen, these details make 'Devils' an absolute joy to look at and it's images and characters will not be easily forgotten.

The films also displays intelligent and thought provoking themes throughout, focusing on war, survival, revenge, the human spirit and many others. The themes are perhaps not as focused as they could have been, and this admittedly does bring the uneven structure of the plot to the attention more, however I say this only because with a film as well made as this, you have to include even the tiniest of mishaps to form a conclusive and informative review. Nevertheless, I recommend you watch this film for yourself the next time you have the chance, no matter who you are: this is a must.

An excellent film- but with a dark propaganda message beneath it

[illaborate · 7/10 · 18 May 2008]

I will agree with my fellow reviewers that this is indeed a very well-made film. It is well-shot, well-acted, thoroughly moving and at times amusing. The way it lulls the audience into a false sense of security is very skillful, and I was genuinely speechless and rooted in place when the climactic, but not final, scene came along. This is something that despite watching countless films, I am not accustomed to.

HOWEVER, I am absolutely astounded that nobody else has read this as a horribly dehumanising account of the Japanese. Before anybody starts saying that the Japanese army in WWII committed some horrific atrocities, I know this full well. However, it is the way that this film goes about portraying this message will truly disturbs me in a fashion that is cinematically brilliant and all the more worrying for that reason.

The Japanese soldier who is captured by the villagers is well-crafted. To begin with, he is understandably somewhat uncooperative with his captors. However, over time his human side comes out in often comic fashion, and we begin to develop some kind of sympathy for him and feel that he has come to develop sympathy for his captors. Unfortunately, this is all utterly shattered later. Likewise, the Japanese general initially impresses us with his sense of honour despite his fierce nature. Again he is set up as somebody who has developed some kind of sympathy for the villagers and has acted honourably. But, without spoiling the latter part of the film, he then completely derails any such thoughts and proves that, deep down, he is a completely evil swine. His logic for his acts is utterly ludicrous, and demonises the Japanese. This film is let down by the fact that it portrays the Japanese as pure evil. It suggests that even when they seem nice on the outside, they are still backstabbing devils.

I understand that the Chinese are very bitter, and rightfully so, for the atrocities committed against them by the Japanese during WWII. And I don't blame them whatsoever for showing this side of the Japanese army. After all, our own cinema has repeatedly and rightly depicted the Nazis as evil. However, what concerns me is the total lack of any of the Japanese characters coming out as in any way good people. They all, to a man, come out as barbarians. The biggest missed opportunity was for the captured soldier to refuse his order near the end and die honourably. But no. Even films about the Nazis that are as harrowing as Schindler's List have Germans we can be sympathetic with. Devils on the Doorstep, sadly, only creates a veneer of decency around some of the Japanese characters, whilst using this as an effective tool to deride their 'true nature'.

I found this film very disturbing and disappointing for this reason. But, as I say, it is very well-made, and well worth watching. I just hope that viewers don't fall prey to the message beneath, and that the film has not done too much damage to already tense race relations between the Chinese and Japanese. If I had not found the film so inherently racist, I would have awarded it 8 out of 10 (I'm a harsh marker), perhaps even nine. But it will have to be a 7.

Oh, and I'm confused by a previous review which claims the film is too long for the subject matter. Too long for a story about a war?!? I personally never felt it was too long.

Turtle-f*cker

[lastliberal · 9/10 · 22 July 2010]

This Cannes award winning film by Wen Jiang, on of the directors on New York, I Love You, tells the story of the Japanese invasion of China during WWII. Jiang also stars in the film, that is both tragic and funny.

The film is most definitely anti-war as it shows the basest forms of humanity. Despite knowing the war was over, a whole village was slaughters and burned.

When one of the surviving villagers took revenge, he was punished by the military for being politically incorrect.

It is no wonder the governments of both Japan and China would rather their people not see this film.

It should be seen by all.

Good but too long

[janne-29 · 6/10 · 10 February 2001]

Devils on the doorstep is a living proof that they can do beautiful and interesting historical films in China. Even if it is way too long (2 hours and 44 minutes) for this rather simple story, this film about the Japanese occupation of China, is well worth seeing if you get a chance.

Sudden shift from black comedy to tragic drama, doesn't work that well at all

[Turfseer · 4/10 · 14 April 2012]

When 'Devils on the Doorstep' was released in 2000, it was banned in China and its director, Jiang Wen, prohibited from directing any more movies for an unstated period of time. As it turned out, Jiang didn't direct another film until 2007. The film is set in a North Chinese town toward the end of the Japanese occupation in 1945. Apparently, the Chinese censors felt the film didn't cast the Japanese occupiers in a negative enough light as well as failing to depict the Chinese villagers as heroes.

'Devils' is an unusual in that most of the film is a black comedy. The way Jiang depicts the Japanese occupation is quite different than the 'Rape of Nanking'. Here, the Japanese have occupied the small town of 'Rack-Armor Terrace' and have already settled in for eight years. There's no reign of terror here as the Japanese soldiers spend most of their time parading their musically-inept Navy band around town, who only happen to know one tune. Despite their contempt for the village they're in charge of, they basically leave the villagers to their own devices. The villagers are more upset about the lack of grain than the conduct of the Japanese soldiers.

All that changes when an apparent partisan leaves a Japanese soldier and his Chinese collaborator-interpreter on the doorstep of our villager protagonist, Ma Dasan, tied up in gunny sacks, with orders to interrogate them and wait for his return, five days later, when presumably he'll return and take custody of them again. The partisan threatens both Dasan and his fellow villagers with death, if he doesn't cooperate.

The captured Japanese soldier, Hanaya, is a caricature of the fanatical type of World War II Japanese soldier, often depicted in American propaganda movies during World War II. The Chinese interpreter, Hanchen, fearing that the villagers will kill both of them, intentionally mistranslates Hanaya's belligerent words, so that his captors will get the impression that he's actually benign (the joke of the villagers misinterpreting Hanaya's intentions, goes on for way too long). Ma Dasan informs his fellow villagers of his quandary and they agree that Ma Dasan should keep the captured soldiers in his cellar.

After six months goes by and the partisan fails to return, the villagers agree to cast lots, to determine who amongst them, should execute the prisoners. Ma Dasan ends up being chosen but doesn't have the gumption to kill his captives, so he hides them in a watchtower along the Great Wall of China and brings them food and water. The villagers discover Ma Dasan's ruse when the prisoners fail in an escape attempt so they decide to hire an assassin, a bumbling, retired executioner by the name of 'One Stoke Liu'. Liu is completely incompetent and misses when he tries to slice off the prisoners' heads. At this point, one can hardly take the film seriously at all, as the characters (exemplified by such a buffoon), appear to be a bunch of bumbling fools. The same goes for two Japanese soldiers, who fail in their obsessive quest to capture a chicken as well as Ma Dasan's fellow villagers, who are constantly engaged in one petty argument after another.

After Hanaya miraculously transforms himself from fanatic to grateful fan of his captors, he proposes that if the villagers release him, he'll approach the Japanese commander (Sakatsuka) and ask for two wagons of grain for the town. The ensuing scenario fails as satire, since it's too detached from reality. I can see why the Chinese censors took Jiang to task as no Chinese villager would be stupid enough to bring a captured Japanese prisoner back to a commanding officer, expecting not to be punished and worse, hope that said Commander ends up rewarding them, for their actions.

Hanaya ends up as the one who's punished, as his death has already been reported to his hometown (where a memorial has been erected) and to now reveal that he's still alive (and was a prisoner of the Chinese to boot), would be a great humiliation for Sakatsuka and his unit. In a most unlikely reversal, Sakatsuka agrees to keep the agreement Hanaya made with the villagers and ends up giving them not just two wagons of grain, but an additional four.

If all this seems unbelievable, Jiang decides to shift gears at film's end, dispensing with the overall comic tone. The jarring transition between black comedy and serious drama would have been much more effective had he had a little more empathy for his characters to begin with. So when things get 'serious', and the stakes are raised, we don't care much for what happens to characters who end up as tragic victims.

As the plot unfolds, Sakatsuka turns on the villagers when they fail to produce the man who captured Hanaya to begin with and believes Ma Dasan has gone off to fetch some partisans. The paranoid outburst leads to the villagers being massacred (including a Japanese soldier murdering a young child) despite the fact that Sakatsuka already knows that Japan has surrendered.

The coda is just as gruesome. Hanchen is executed by the Nationalists and Ma Dasan cracks up, and attacks Japanese POWs. Soldiers prevent him from hacking Hanaya to death and in a cruel twist, Major Gao, the Chinese Nationalist in charge, has Hanaya behead Ma Dasan, as punishment for his crimes.

Jiang pulls out all the stops at irony, when a transformed Hanaya is forced to execute Ma Dasan, the good man who saved him but who went mad due to the cruelties of war. Jiang did well not to show the Chinese as completely heroic as the censors wanted, but went too far by turning them (along with the Japanese occupiers) into buffoons. When death finally came to the characters whom Jiang wanted us to laugh at earlier, their sudden demise hardly seemed tragic at all.

Powerful

[shaid · 9/10 · 29 January 2001]

"This review may contain a spoiler"

The plot is simple. 2 war prisoners, one Japanese the other a Chinese translator, are dumped in the hand of a small village and asked to keep them alive until they would be collected in 5 days time, however the 5 days have passed and no one come to collect those 2 prisoners.So what do we do with those 2 ?

Through this simple story the director,producer,writer and actor Wen Jiang manage to show the 2 societies and their different attitude towards things and manage to raise some question of good and bad,collaboration in war time.What is a collaborator? How do you survive a difficult situation, what price are you willing to pay and many more. The film is shot in black and white as a symbol to the fact that we tend to see the world in black and white.the acting is superb and I have only praises for the film. The film criticise also the Chinese government after the war and say though not in so many words that they were no better than the occupation.

The film is a bit too long and as a western I probably lost some of the nuances but nevertheless it is still a good and powerful film,not to be missed.

a great chinese film for the new century

[yaolingyao · 10/10 · 5 August 2000]

"guizi lai le" is the most improtant chinese film since 1988 when zhang yi mou's "hong gao liang" won the golden bear in berlin. it's a great film to prove the jiang wen's thinking of the whole anti-japanese war and the real chinese,gave us a new version of chinese.

one Chinese masterpiece

[yanjcw · 10/10 · 28 May 2005]

up to now, this is my second favourest Chinese movie and only next to To Live

generally, i don't call it a Chinse fighting-against-japan movie, which is always about a hero. it's about ordinary civilians struggle for survival under Japanese invasion.

first of all, it's an idea to make this movie simply about a village and two war prisoners. when they came across a dilemma of take care of the prisoners, the village folks have to be very careful from being killed by either mysterious "me" or the japan invaders. but no matter how they tried, even to please the Japanese by singing, then got inevitably slaughtered.

then instead of mandarin, we see local dialect is used in this movie. some words from the dialect really makes the movie interesting and the character alive. when i see this movie, i just feel they are not characters in a movie, but were ignorant/plain peasants living in northeast China. another wonderful element of language is the translation between japan and Chinese. it's really laughing when Hanaya tried to revile and annoy Ma Dashan & Yu'er

finally, it's a great success to shoot this film in black and white, by which the audience can be put in a real situation where the story happens. it's in color until the end when the Japanese surrender, perhaps it is to imply bright life is coming...

one must-see for every average Chinese who won't want to forget the history of being invaded, especially when we see what the Japanese government does in the year of 60th Annivesary WWII

Pacing - wise

[kosmasp · 8/10 · 15 July 2007]

Although the movie has been released in the year 2000 and shot little before that, it does have the feeling of "older" movies. What do I mean by that? Pacing wise it takes the route classic war movies have taken before it and doesn't opt for the MTV Generation cuts/pace (I watched the nearly 3 hour version).

I called this a war movie, but don't get excited about fight scenes, it's more a drama! Saying more than that, might spoil something so I leave it at that! Just be aware of that fact, before you watch the movie! It's very well acted and you're unaware of where this will go! Which I think is great! Although it changes kind of "direction" near the end, it fits the movie (imo).

one of the best movies from Mainland China

[heaveng · 10/10 · 18 January 2021]

Most of mainland movies about the Second Sino-Japanese War are fairy tales. The basic tune is that, Japanese are stupid, evil, and weak, and Chinese are smart, decent, and strong. This movie is one of the very few trying to illustrate a real slice during that war.

"Me" is ............

[ziggy-luo · 10/10 · 15 March 2013]

OK, it is obvious to Chinese people who "me" is: the Maoist, Communist resistance force: Communist Eighth Route Army (Ba Lu Jun).

It is even more obvious "what" "me" is: an irresponsible, cowardly team of individuals who dumped the extremely dangerous load upon the innocent villagers, and bailed on them, never came back, and eventually led to the death of the entire village (who were so good-hearted that fed and bathed invader, save food for them..)

There is so much to be said about this film, it is smartly made, has a message about every side involved in the conflict: Japanese Military, Chinese villagers, Chinese Communists, Chinese Nationalists... Messages that requires digesting to get..

Meh.

[ritera1 · 7/10 · 31 December 2016]

I think I'm lost in the translation, being American. I'm aware of the atrocities that the Japanese occupation of China brought with it, though.

I found it very long and repetitive, despite the fact there was some very good filmmaking and acting going on. And the ending was very interesting, suggesting the futility of life. (I would have sworn the Japanese soldier was going to kill his commander.)

But very repetitive. Just several scenarios on what would happen to these people in this situation. No real growth of the characters. Sure, there was a change in the Japanese soldier. But not really anybody else. Just some well done scenes but still a lot of talking and running around.

And the last act was agitating as it was clear that the plan would never work. As was in the movie, the commander brought up why the soldier didn't contact the garrison.

Not for me.

To those guys who know nothing about China

[gaojingyu · 10/10 · 24 November 2017]

This film is a masterpiece. The first time I saw this film was in senior heigh's class when I was in China. And to those reviewers who know nothing about China, except the issue when the film first went public, this film is the representative work of Jiang Wen which is spoken highly by the Chinese audience. It never goes underground and now it is accessible everywhere on Chinese video website. One less thing to criticise us, what a pity.

Perfect

[LivingDog · 10/10 · 1 February 2009]

I usually only watch Japanese Samurai movies and Japanese anime'. I tried a few Chinese Martial Arts movies and was really annoyed with them. The production, acting and plot are very poor.

I ordered this from NETFLIX thinking (for some reason) that it was a modern Japanese samurai story. So when I saw it was made in China - not just Hong Kong, but mainland China - I was hesitant to watch it. Having nothing else to watch I decided to watch this movie thinking it was about their form of martial arts and give this genre' a chance - one more time.

First off, it takes place during the Japanese occupation of China. (I won't say any more.)

My impression was that this movie is nothing short of perfect. It is film of the highest form. I don't say that about many movies, although I like movies in general, I have said this for only a few. Everything is done right - from cast to production to editing. If I was a director this movie would have made me think over my entire career - and have me learn from it. 12 out of 10.

-LD

______________________

my faith: http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/jbc33/

But who was "me" ?

[gghgm · 9/10 · 10 January 2009]

As others have already stated, this is a marvelous work by Wen Jiang. The setting was beautiful and the cinematography was outstanding. Western audiences may be unfamiliar with the Sino-Japanese conflict but elements of the story transcend that. I will re-watch it carefully but, on first viewing I could not figure out who "me", the kidnapper, was. There is a possible clue however. "me" points a Mauser pistol at Ma Dasan in the opening scene. Mausers were "en vogue" with many Chinese warlords of that era. Was this a coincidence or a subtle hint? Was "me" therefore Chinese? Why would a fellow Chinese person saddle Ma Dasan and his village with such a disastrous assignment?

rethinking

[clanceyjudye · 10/10 · 21 December 2019]

We are all humans,but varies in thoughts,education. When a solider desire to die on the battlefield,he is glorious. Not until woke up, he found that he was nothing but a lowly farmer.