Chinese war film's battle scenes truly impressive

ISLAMABAD – The war movie ‘On the Tai Hang Mountain’ was screened here Sunday - the second day of the Chinese Film Festival in connection with the Chinese Cultural Week at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA). Directed by three creative minds Chen Jian, Shen Dong and Wei Lian, the 117-minute movie is written by Lu Zhuguo while the main cast of the film includes Wang Wufu (as Zhu De), Lu Qi (as Deng Xiaoping), Li Shusheng and Xu Guangming. ‘On the Tai Hang Mountain’ was released in 2005 with subtitles in English. It was produced by the August First Film Studio that is said to be associated with the People’s Liberation Army. The film won the 25th Golden Rooster Award for Best Picture in 2005.
At its best ‘On the Mountain of Tai Hang’ is an epic war film depicting the Chinese Red Army’s military defence of the Shanxi province of Tai Hang against Japanese invasion during World War II. The film’s battle scenes are truly impressive as what appears to be thousands of troops fight over a massive mountainous area. There’s some pretty good camera shot’s allowing the camera to fly through the air, through the cockpit of a plane and out of the other side, as well as assisting in showing bodies being blown to bits through the air. Some of it is pretty gruesome - but of course this is a war film.
The historical story is interesting as the splintered Chinese troops cover the valley and require assistance and back-up from one another against the superior war-power of the invading Japanese armies. At its worst ‘On the Mountain of Tai Hang’ is a piece of Communist propaganda, flaunting its patriotic rhetoric and providing nothing but a negative portrayal of the Japanese. This in it’s self is of course nothing new or surprising for a war film. It’s not like Hollywood films about war always give a balanced view of both sides - they don’t - and there’s always a lot of Patriotic flag flying in those too.