Assembly (film)

Assembly

Theatrical release poster
Traditional 集結號
Simplified 集结号
Mandarin Jí Jié Hào
Directed by Feng Xiaogang
Produced by John Chong
Feng Xiaogang
Wang Zhongjun
Guan Yadi
Written by Liu Heng (1992 screenplay)
Starring Zhang Hanyu
Deng Chao
Yuan Wenkang
Tang Yan
Wang Baoqiang
Liao Fan
Hu Jun
Ren Quan
Li Naiwen
Music by Wang Liguang
Cinematography Lü Yue
Edited by Liu Miaomiao
Production
company
Distributed by Huayi Brothers
Media Asia Distribution Ltd.
Release dates
20 December 2007 (2007-12-20) (China)
3 January 2008 (2008-01-03) (Hong Kong)
Running time
124 minutes
Country Hong Kong
China
Language Mandarin
English
Budget US$16,000,000 (estimated)
Box office $35 million(¥260 million)[1]

Assembly is a 2007 Chinese war film written by Liu Heng and directed by Feng Xiaogang. It starred Zhang Hanyu, Deng Chao, Yuan Wenkang, Tang Yan, Wang Baoqiang, Liao Fan, Hu Jun, Ren Quan and Li Naiwen. The film, ostensibly portraying an anti-war theme, was first released on 20 December 2007. It won the 2008 Hundred Flowers Awards and the 2009 Golden Rooster Awards for Best Film.

Plot

In 1948, during the Huaihai Campaign of the Chinese Civil War, Captain Gu Zidi leads the 9th Company of the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) 139th Regiment to attack a town controlled by National Revolutionary Army (NRA) forces. They win the battle but sustain heavy casualties in the process. After witnessing his political commissar being killed in battle, Gu is so angry that he orders his men to execute the NRA soldiers who surrendered, but his men refuse to obey because they will violate the rules of engagement. Gu is punished by confinement for three days. He quickly befriends his cellmate, Wang Jincun, a teacher and pacifist who is jailed for cowardice in battle.

After Gu is released, he meets his superior, Colonel Liu Zeshui, who sends him and his 46 surviving men on a new mission: To defend a coal mine on the bank of the Wen River (at Dawenkou Town, Daiyue District, Tai'an, Shandong). They must not retreat until they hear the bugle call for assembly. With Liu's permission, Wang becomes the 9th Company's new political commissar. Almost immediately after fortifying their position, the 9th Company comes under heavy attack by NRA forces. After fending off a wave of enemy infantry and destroying two enemy tanks, only a handful of them are left alive. The mortally wounded adjutant claims that he heard a bugle call in the distance. A few others say they heard it too. Gu, who has been temporarily deafened by an explosion, is reluctant to believe them so he orders them to fight to the death. The entire 9th Company, except Gu, is killed.

PLA forces eventually find Gu, unconsciousness and heavily wounded. They mistake him for an enemy because he was wearing a NRA uniform, so they take him as a POW. After being nursed back to health in a military hospital, Gu tries to convince the staff that he is from the PLA. However, when he was still in coma, the PLA was reorganised and the 139th Regiment no longer exists, so Gu is unable to verify his identity. The other patients scorn him because they think he is a deserter. Gu volunteers to fight in the Korean War as an enlisted soldier. During a spotting mission, he risks his life to save his commander, Lieutenant Zhao Erdou, from a landmine and loses his right eye after being hit by shrapnel. They become close friends.

After the war ends, Gu travels back to the old battlefield and tries to find the mine. He is disappointed to see that the mine has been reactivated and the old entrance is now buried under coal. He encounters Wang's widow and convinces her to marry Zhao. With Zhao's help, Gu manages to confirm his identity and the 9th Company's existence. He finds his way to Liu's tomb. The tomb keeper, who turns out to be 139th Regiment's bugler, explains that the assembly bugle call was never sounded. In fact, the 9th Company was sacrificed to cover the regiment's retreat. Gu flies into a rage and curses and swears at Liu's tombstone but calms down later.

Gu starts camping at the mine and attempts to dig out his men's bodies with a shovel, despite protests from the miners. When Wang's remains are found a month later, the PLA sends an official notice to the local government to honour the 9th Company. However, Gu remains inconsolable because he cannot find the remaining bodies. At this point, he experiences a flashback which reveals that, as enemy forces closed in, he and Wang buried the bodies of the others deep inside the mine. While Gu went out to continue fighting, a mortally wounded Wang blew up the entrance to prevent the enemy from capturing the bodies, killing himself in the process.

Years later, the remains of the other soldiers are found during an excavation for an irrigation project. The PLA erects a monument near the site and conducts a military funeral with full honours for the 9th Company. Gu finally finds peace. The ending titles say that Gu died in 1987 at the age of 71. He was abandoned by his parents when he was three months old due to famine in his hometown, and was found by a shoemaker in a millet field. He was named "Gu Zidi", which means "millet field".

Cast

Production

The action and effects team from the 2004 Korean war film Taegukgi were employed to work on Assembly. Assembly is also among the first films produced in mainland China to portray the Chinese Civil War in a realistic style. The film is also adapted from the novel Guan Si (A Legal Case), which is based on a real-life account of a veteran army captain upholding his company's honour.

Critical reception

The film was a massive box office success, particularly in mainland China.

Perry Lam gave a mixed review of Assembly in the Hong Kong magazine Muse: "There is a huge discrepancy between the sophistication of the filmmakers in their knowledge and application of state-of-the-art techniques, and the naivety and bad faith they place in the value of unquestioning obedience to authority and sacrifice as the highest manifestation of patriotism."[2]

Kozo, who reviewed the film at the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival 2007, felt that Assembly is a safe commercial movie that does not offend anybody: "In Assembly, war is never really portrayed as a "cause". The human element is the main focus here, and the sacrifices made by soldiers are to be honoured because they're people, and not members of one side or the other."[3]

Sequel

Assembly was quickly followed by a sequel, Assembly 2: The Cold Flame (集结号2-烽火), which was also directed by Feng Xiaogang.[4] Although it also featured Zhang Hanyu in a leading role, it was actually shot in 2005 and held back by the studio. It was eventually released to capitalise on the success of Assembly.[5] The sequel centres on the relationship between a wounded NRA soldier and an orphaned girl during the Second Sino-Japanese War instead of the Chinese Civil War. It contains very few war scenes and focuses more on the personal drama between the characters.

Awards and nominations

45th Golden Horse Awards
  • Won: Best Actor (Zhang Hanyu)
  • Nominated: Best Feature Film
  • Nominated: Best Adapted Screenplay
  • Nominated: Best Visual Effects
  • Nominated: Best Action Choreography
  • Nominated: Best Sound Effects
2008 Hundred Flowers Awards
  • Won: Best Film
2009 Golden Rooster Awards
  • Won: Best Film
  • Won: Best Film Director
  • Won: Best Cinematography
  • Won: Best Original Music Score
11th Pyongyang International Film Festival
  • Won: Best Picture
  • Won: Best Director

References

External links

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