DLAznMovies.com: Assembly

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Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Assembly

Genre: War, Drama
Starring:
Chao Deng ... Zhao, Erdou
Heng Fu ... Luo - Guangtian
Jun Hu ... Liu - Zeshui
Phil Jones ... US Army Captain
Release date:2008
Language: Chinese/Mandarin
Subtitle: English

SYNOPSIS:

Captain Guzidi led the Ninth Company infantry unit on a sniper mission. His orders were to fight the KMT Army until the retreat assembly call was sounded. Yet, after many long hours of resistance, the men were falling one by one. Not until later did Gu realize that all the neighboring troops had already left the field, and that his entire company had maybe died in vain because of his stubborn obedience. He had been wounded and captured by the PLA. He had lost his identity, and quickly learnt that without a survivor to vouch for them, the forty six men who had bravely sacrificed their lives under him had simply gone missing. Gu joined the infantry of the Liberation Army. Determined to prove the glorious death of his forty-six men, Gu embarks on a journey in search of those who hold the key to the mystery of the bugle call.

REVIEW:

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. Feng Xiaogang's smarts extend beyond his ability to put together competent, international-quality cinema; he knows how to make his films appeal to as wide an audience as possible. In his earlier, more China-centric hits, that audience was more Mainland Chinese, but with The Assembly, he seems to be reaching further. The trade-off is that the emotions are safe, and no message exists that raises Assembly to the Saving Private Ryan level of intense human drama. Assembly is dramatically sound and possesses appropriate emotions, but there's nothing that complex or challenging going on here. As such, Feng Xiaogang likely achieved his goal: he made a solid commercial film that's easy to like and respect. The Assembly affects on a basic, unchallenging level, meaning that it may appeal to nearly anyone, anywhere. The film might have been more powerful had Feng Xiaogang chosen a side, but not getting banned and being able to work on future projects is probably desirable to Feng. Assuming that, it's best that Feng Xiaogang chose no side at all. Besides, now the Taiwanese, Koreans, and Americans might be able to enjoy The Assembly too. Everybody wins.

Source: Kozo, lovehkfilm.com

RATING: 9/10