"Devils on the Doorstep:" a very troubling film from China,

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telling the story of how a tiny village coped with the Japanese invasion.
Two kidnapped men, one a Chinese who is translator for the Japanese and the other a Japanese soldier, forcibly are left in the care of a man and his family. The mysterious kidnapper hides his identity and warns the peasant to look after the men until his return--- and to interrogate them.
But the kidnapper doesn't return and a series of misadventures occurs.
This film won many awards and justifiably so. Even though it is made by Jiang Wen, a Chinese, it refuses to make the Japanese out as monsters; neither does it make the Chinese out to be valiant fighters.
The director also is the main character and seldom does one see such skill in two such different arts. His Da Sen character is complex, at times driven by self-inteterest, village politics, and family pressures... in short, a fully drawn person.
As a director, Wen shows he is adept equally in comedy or drama: this film has some hilarious moments, beginning with one of the opening scenes.
I couldn't help thinking about the ME, with the kidnapped Israeli soldiers in Lebanon, as I watched.
Highly recommended.

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Kimber Kable

Topic - "Devils on the Doorstep:" a very troubling film from China, - tinear 05:04:10 10/11/06 (0)

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