Chinese filmmakers are preparing to follow up The Battle at Lake Changjin, which became this year’s top box-office attraction in China with a good deal of help from the communist government, with another anti-American propaganda film about the Korean War called Crossing the Yalu River.
The Battle at Lake Changjin was touted by the Chinese communist government as the top movie worldwide in October, and the most successful movie ever produced by a Chinese studio. Some of its massive ticket sales were due to the government strongly suggesting that every patriotic Chinese citizen was obliged to see it, and making sure no other movies were playing in many theaters.
China’s state-run Global Times on Wednesday trumpeted the debut on Friday of another big-budget film that will teach citizens more about “the real heroes of the war, also known as the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, and see the actual conditions on the battlefield themselves.”
Global Times continued:
The story is narrated from an international perspective and the perspective of Peng Dehuai, commander of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army (CPV), showing the strategic thinking of the Chinese central leadership and five bloody battles fought by frontline soldiers to fully restore the history 71 years ago.
The war broke out in June 1950, and when forces led by the US crossed the 38th Parallel and brought an imminent threat to China, the CPV joined the war in October of1950, allying with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to defend their homeland and thus secure the safety of the newly founded People’s Republic of China.
Besides heroes such as Qiu Shaoyun, who got trapped in a fire and was burned to death to protect others, the movie also mentions Mao Anying, Chairman Mao Zedong’s son, who sacrificed his life on the battlefield.
According to the Global Times, the trailer for Crossing the Yalu River left Chinese “netizens” quivering in anticipation for “another high-quality war blockbuster.”
The considerably less excited entertainment desk at the Indian Express noted the civilized world has little reason to celebrate historically inaccurate nationalist propaganda films that celebrate the brutal Chinese Communist Party midwifing the birth of the downright psychotic North Korean regime, unleashing decades of untold human suffering upon the Korean peninsula.
Western critics have been much harder on The Battle at Lake Changjin than state-controlled Chinese “movie reviewers” and “netizens,” as the Indian Express demonstrated:
The Guardian’s Phil Hoad in his review of the film said that “this government-ordained project wastes no opportunity – current geopolitical tensions notwithstanding – to assert the moral superiority of the Chinese soldier. Not only is he unfazed by superior opposition numbers and equipment or impossibly harsh climate conditions, even the enemy catering doesn’t get him down. We see Uncle Sam chowing down on a bounty of turkey legs and bacon while the People’s Volunteer Army break their teeth on stony potatoes.”
The Hollywood Reporter’s Elizabeth Kerr pointed out that war dramas in general are prone to propagandist messaging and dubious historical authenticity, but The Battle at Lake Changjin overdoes it. “The dearth of Korean characters, a distant flag or even a name in passing signals the film’s utter lack of interest in anyone other than the clutch of characters at the center of the story, who support the narrative being created (for those who missed it: China good, U.S. bad),” she said.
China’s state-run CGTN news reported Crossing the Yalu River debuted in Beijing on Wednesday to commemorate the 71st anniversary of China’s entry into the Korean War.
“It’s the first full-scale epic film to show the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea,” burbled Xue Jijun, a member of the “editorial committee” of producer China Media Group.
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