MovieChat Forums > Ji jie hao (2007) Discussion > Felt like a piece of communist propagand...

Felt like a piece of communist propaganda.

posted 14 years ago by Unicorn_Blade
6 replies | jump to latest

I think this must be some sort of Saving Private Ryan wannabe. I have to underline I am not a huge fan of American war films, since they are so very often incresibly pathetic, with the slow motion and the flag waving in the background and the dialogues that are always the same... But this is the exact equivalent of it, except it is made in Chinese.

The plot is really boring, the film should have ended after the first 60 minutes, the rest is just dragging it for no apparent purpose. At one point you forget about soldiers, you forget about their pain, you just want the film to end, finally. I didnt feel sympathetic towards any of the characters, because they tent to be cut out of a propaganda leaflet and can act so pretentiously... Shame, since I dont think any soldier really deserve this type of portrayal.

[–] brendanseeto 13 years ago

Or maybe you just didnt like the movie because it was made in CHina. I can tell you have a belligent attitute towards the country judging by your past comment ( stick ing you will die etc) It is way less propaganda then SPR or even South KOrea's " Brotherhood at war". I saw much less flag waving ( in fact hardly any) then your typical US war film. I could feel for Captain Gu's struggle for recognition for his comrades. He was a professional soldier whose sole purpose in life ( as he saw it) was to do his job and keep his men alive.. this is obvious in a number of scenes.His conversations with his two political officers are evidence of this.. Look at the movie as a war movie a sceond time and you might see it. On second thoughts with your prejudies, I doubt it so don't waste your time and let the rest of us enjoy it.

[–] obeythejackal 13 years ago

Well put brendanseeto.

This is one of my favourite movies of all time. In my opinion, the best part of the movie wasn't the realistic action (it was top notch but not the best), but rather the emotion and drama that Captain Gu brings the audience through. There are elements of Chinese culture and history in the movie, but as for propaganda there isn't really much. If you drop your prejudices and look at this movie with an open mind, I am sure you will undergo a different experience.

[–] brendanseeto 13 years ago

Indeed.. Assembly like US and SK equivalents ( Saving Private Ryan and Brotherhood at War), has elements that could only be understood by their respective native audiences. Still I enjoyed all three movies..

[–] Unicorn_Blade 13 years ago

Late reply it will be, but you missed. I love Asian cinema, and as a matter of fact most of my favourite films were made in China/japan and Korea. Or should I say, much as I love Chinese cinema, it does not mean that every film made in China was great,
And while there was not as much flag waving and slow motion as in most American films, it was still a piece of propaganda, nowhere near a good war film. There were good bits in it, but overally, they served to no purpose other than imposing certain ideology on the viewer. Too bad you fel for it.

[–] millionwatts77 13 years ago

The vast majority of Chinese period films have a rather obvious patriotic undertone to them. Just think about how often Japanese and British are portrayed as bad guys. And if the movie is not outright patriotic, they are certainly hardly ever ambiguous or even controversial.
It's a different environment for filmmakers in China. As far as I know movies still need to be approved by the communist party to be shown in mainland China. Hong Kong and international distribution is all fair game, but if you want to show your movie in all of China, you better have a patriotic agenda.

At least somewhat comparable conditions can also be found in Hollywood. Try funding an ambiguous or controversial war movie when your name is not Clint Eastwood or Kubrick. If you want to use military personnel, equipment or locations, you have to submit your script to the US military. Needless to say movies like Platoon, Apocalypse Now or Full Metal jacket were denied any support whatsoever. We're just lucky that they can't stop these movies, because if they could, they wouldn't think twice about it.

[–] stanleyhetz 11 years ago

The plot is really boring, the film should have ended after the first 60 minutes, the rest is just dragging it for no apparent purpose. At one point you forget about soldiers, you forget about their pain, you just want the film to end, finally. I didnt feel sympathetic towards any of the characters, because they tent to be cut out of a propaganda leaflet and can act so pretentiously... Shame, since I dont think any soldier really deserve this type of portrayal.