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Chinese Film About War Shocks Cannes Festival
Chinese director Jiang Wen's "Devils on the Doorstep" is a brutal film on Japan's World War Two occupation of China that looks set to give Golden Palm contenders at the Cannes Film Festival a run for their money, China Daily reported on May 14.
Jiang himself plays the main character, Ma Dasan, in the astonishing film lasting nearly three hours, which he presented as his second feature at the world's largest cinematic gathering.
Ma Dasan, a peasant in a remote Chinese village, is caught by surprise when soldiers from the Chinese army deposit two gunnysacks in his home and promise to pick them up a few days later. Inside the gunnysacks are a Japanese POW and his Chinese interpreter, considered a collaborator by the Chinese.
Six months go by without a sign from the Chinese soldiers. With a Japanese blockhouse 50 metres away, the villagers struggle to keep the prisoners hidden and contain their fear.
Unable to bear living with fear, they urge Ma Dasan to kill the two men, but he cannot bring himself to carry out the deed.
Ma Dasan and his mistress, a young widow, care for the prisoners, sacrificing their own rations to feed them, and a bond begins to form between them.
Little by little, hostility gives way to familiarity and the Japanese soldier proposes a deal: his freedom in exchange for several wagonloads of wheat for the starving villagers.
The exchange is made, but during a great banquet given by the Japanese regional commander, this initially good-humoured but wordy comedy turns into tragedy when the Japanese slaughter the villagers and burn their homes.
"I don't think this is a film about war. The war is merely an excuse for talking about the human condition," said actor Yuan Ding, who plays the Chinese interpreter.
Jiang said it had not been his intention to make an anti-Japanese film, although problems between the two nationalities on the set were almost inevitable.
"On the contrary, the Japanese smoke all their cigarettes by themselves. In the end, of course, the result is the same: all the cigarettes get smoked," the actor said.
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