Devils on the Doorstep (China) (2000)
During the Japanese occupation of China, two prisoners are dumped in a peasant’s home in a small town. The owner is bullied into keeping the prisoners until the next New Year, at which time they will be collected. The village leaders convene to interrogate the prisoners. The townspeople then struggle to accommodate the prisoners. One is a bellicose Japanese nationalist, the other a nervous translator. Will the townspeople manage to keep the prisoners until the New Year?
Devils on the Doorstep is an award-winning Chinese black comedy produced, directed and starring Jiang Wen. Shot in black and white to mimic old-time war movies, the film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on 12 May 2000 and clinched the Grand Prix but was subsequently banned in its home country.
Cast: Wen Jiang, Kagawa Teruyuki, Yuan Ding, Jiang Hongbo
Directed: Wen Jiang
Genre: Black Comedy/War/Historical
Runtime: 2:14
Also Known As: Guizi lai le
Country: China
Language: Mandarin
Subtitles: English/Chinese
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0245929/
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This film, being Chinese, portrays the Japanese as the real cruel ones. However, since I am not either Japanese or Chinese, I believe I can objectively say that it is a superb film, combining humour with real life drama and raw violence.
I encourage everybody to watch it. In my opinion one should see it as a film against war in general. It shows what war does to people, how it brings out our worst instincts, how we become sneaky and inhuman and how the “powerful” or the “winner side” loses control.
Watch every war on this planet today and admit that the same situations apply everywhere. Nationalities are irrelevant in this case. It’s the bloody and greedy human nature…