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 Chinese Civil War, a PLA officer named Cpt Gu Zidi leads the 9th company in assaulting an NRA-controlled town. Even though he wins, his company suffers from glaring casualties and he witnesses his political commissar being blown to pieces, which leads him to attempt to execute the prisoners of war. Gu is thrown in a jail where he quickly befriends his cell-mate Wang, a school-teacher and pacifist who was jailed for being a coward. A short time later, Gu's superior Col Liu Zeshui sends Gu and his 46 surviving men on a new assignment, which is to defend the regiment's flank, namely an old mine on the south bank of the Wen River. Liu clarifies that Gu must not retreat until he hears a bugle call for assembly. Wang departs with Gu's company as his new political commissar.

Without a moment to spare after the 9th company fortifies the position, the NRA forces suddenly attack with superior artillery, tanks, and infantry. The 9th company fiercely fends off two waves of an enemy assault, while Gu orders the dead and wounded to be carried into the mine. Only a handful of Gu's men are left alive when the mortally wounded adjutant claims that he hears a bugle call in the distance. Some of the others hear it as well, but Gu, who has been temporarily deafened by the explosions, is reluctant to believe them and orders them to fight to the death. Some time later, Gu wakes up in an army hospital and realizes that he is the sole survivor. He tries to find the regiment which his 9th company belonged to, but is unable because the PLA has undergone a re-organiz-ation during his coma and many files went missing. The other soldiers start to scorn him, thinking that he was a deserter.

Gu volunteers to fight in the Korean War as an enlisted man, and is wounded by a landmine after saving his commander Lt Zhao Erdou during an spotting mission. After the war ends, he travels back to the previous battlefield and attempts to locate the mine-shaft, only to find that the mine has been reactivated and the old entrance buried under coal. He encounters Wang's widow as well as Zhao, and convinces them to marry. With Zhao's help, Gu uncovers records of his regiment and finds his way to Liu's tomb. The groundskeeper, who turns out to be Liu's former bodyguard, explains that the assembly-call was never sounded. Rather, the 9th company was sacrificed to cover the regiment's retreat. Gu is filled with rage but quickly calms down.

Gu starts camping at the mine and attempts to dig out the mine-shaft using a shovel, despite protests from the miners. The remains of Wang are found a month later, and the 9th company is finally honored through an official notice, but Gu remains inconsolable because he cannot uncover the remaining bodies. At this point Gu experiences a flashback, revealing that, as the NRA forces closed in, Gu and Wang buried the bodies of the others deep in the mine-shaft and exploded the entrance, hoping to keep the bodies out of the hands of the enemy. Years later, as the other remains are found during an excavation for an irrigation project, a monument is erected and a full military funeral is held for the 9th company, allowing Gu to finally experience peace.

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 Muse Magazine: "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 honored 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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