Adapted from Li Cunbao’s Chinese novel of the same name, the movie follows the life of a border guard company before, during and after the Sino-Vietnamese War.
The movie caused a sensation when it was released in 1984, and was highly recognizable in the 1980s, earning it a huge reputation.
What is remarkable is that the film fiercely criticized the bureaucratic system, satirized such ugly phenomena as engaging in privileges, going through the back door, greeting and going to the battlefield for gold-plating, and praised the bravery of simple and kind-hearted officers and soldiers in the battlefield, and at the same time revealed the fact that these honest people were being bullied in the officialdom, which added to the film’s sense of reality and social criticality.
In the 1980s, the film was indeed a high standard of military literature, but if you look at it from today’s point of view, the characterization of this work is facetious, and the artistry is not outstanding, but more of its propaganda. Of course, the film very cleverly avoids the dullness and boredom of most propaganda films, and propaganda is carried out from a novel point of view, and the content of the false and real is mixed with the false, and it has a strong sense of bewilderment.
1984 / China / Drama War / Xie Jin / Lv Xiaohe Tang Guoqiang
Liang Sanxi (Lv Xiaohe), the commander of the 9th Company stationed in Guangyuan, Sichuan Province, postpones his family leave for Zhao Mengsheng (Tang Guoqiang), an instructor who is transferred from the Political Department of the army, but Mengsheng, who comes from a high-company family and can’t bear hardship, intends to work for only a few months and then leave.
In 1979, Zhao’s mother, Wu Shuang (played by Liu Yansheng), learned that Mengsheng’s unit was going to fight in Vietnam and stepped up her efforts to supervise the transfer.
Jin Kailai (He Wei), a straightforward gun platoon leader, is furious when he hears about this and threatens to go to Beijing at his own expense to lodge a complaint.
Troops heading to the Yunnan border, Wu Shuang desperate to ask the army commander Lei Zhen (Tong Chao) will Meng Sheng transferred back to the rear ……
