Devils on the Doorstep (simplified Chine: 鬼子来了; traditional Chine: 鬼子來了; Japane: 鬼が来た!; literally "the devils are here") is a 2000 Chine black comedy film produced and directed by Jiang Wen, starring Jiang himlf, Kagawa Teruyuki, Yuan Ding and Jiang Hongbo. Shot in black and white to mimic old-time war movies, the film premiered at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival on 12 May and clinched the Grand Prix[3] but was subquently banned in its home country.
Inspired by the novel Survival by You Fengwei, Devils on the Doorstep is t in the last years of the Second Sino-Japane War during World War II and tells the story of a Chine villager who is forced by a mysterious figure to take custody of two prisoners from the Japane Army (Yuan). Fearing both the mystery man and the Japane, the village falls into a dilemma over what to do with the two prisoners.
Contrary to its title, Devils on the Doorstep is not at its core an anti-Japane war film. In Jiang's own words, the film shows how Chine literature and film has perpetuated an attitude of blaming the aggressor and casting the Chine population as passive victims of aggression. Jiang hopes that the film illuminates this common human psychological trait of blaming others for disaster that goes beyond Chineness.[4]
Contents
[hide]
∙ 1 Plot
∙ 2 Director's Intention刘观
∙ 3 Cast
∙ 4 Production晕头转向意思
∙ 5 Exhibition and reception香港西贡
o 5.1 Banned in China
o 5.2 Cannes relea and cutting
o 5.3 Japane relea
o 5.4 Worldwide respon
o 5.5 DVD relea
外职业生涯o 5.6 Awards and nominations
∙ 6 Notes
手机发不出短信
∙7 See also
∙8 References
∙9 External links
[edit] Plot
In a small village named Rack-Armor Terrace in Hebei, at the foot of the Great Wall of China, a local peasant Ma Dasan (played by Jiang Wen) is caught by surpri when a man bursts into his home one night and deposits two men in gunnysacks, instructing him at gunpoint to keep them captive but alive for the next few days and interrogate them. The man, identified only as "Me", leaves before Ma can catch a glimp of him. One of the gunnysacks contains Kosaburo Hanaya (Kagawa Teruyuki), a belligerent Japane rgeant; the other Dong Hanchen (Yuan Ding), an obquious Chine interpreter working for the Japane Army. Ma hurriedly enlists the help of his fellow villagers. Fearing both the mysterious "Me" and the Japane, the village decides to follow the instructions fro
m "Me" and detains the prisoners in Ma's cellar. Hanaya repeatedly attempts to provoke the peasants into killing him, but Dong, fearing for his own life, alters Hanaya's words in translation to make him appear conciliatory.
The mystery man fails to return by the eve of Chine New Year as promid. Six months later, the villagers finally run out of patience and resolve to kill the prisoners. The task falls on Ma after a drawing of lots. Not daring to commit murder, Ma instead hides the prisoners in a watchtower along the Great Wall, where he visits them regularly to bring them food and water. However, an unsuccessful escape attempt by the prisoners reveals Ma's cret to the rest of the village. A bitter argument ensues and the village decides to hire an assassin from town to carry out the deed. Ma enlists the help of an old man known as One Stroke Liu (Chen Qiang), a former Imperial executioner. He is told that being beheaded by Liu feels like a passing breeze, and that the vered head will roll six times on the ground, blink three times, and smile in a gesture of gratitude for such a painless death. However, Liu fails to harm either prisoner with one stroke. Claiming that it is the will of Heaven, Liu leaves with the prisoners uninjured.
By this time, however, Hanaya has lost all his defiance and is filled only with gratitude towards the villagers. He promis to reward the village with two wagons of grain should he be relead. The vill
agers agree and return the prisoners to the Japane Army encampment in the nearby town. However, the Japane Army has already made Hanaya a war hero, believing that he was killed in battle. Returning alive after being a prisoner shames the Army. The commander of the encampment, Captain Inokichi Sakatsuka (Kenya Sawada), gives Hanaya a merciless beating but feels honor-bound to fulfill the agreement between the
latter and the village. Captain Sakatsuka and his men bring a great bounty of food and wine to the village and hold a feast there that evening, as Ma goes off to fetch his lover Yu'er (Jiang Hongbo) from a neighboring village. During the feast, Captain Sakatsuka demands to have the man who captured Hanaya. He also accus Ma of sneaking off to fetch resistance fighters. Not given a satisfactory answer, he orders all villagers to be killed and the village to be burned. Ma and Yu'er return on a raft only to find the entire village in flames. Meanwhile, Hanaya is about to commit harakiri before being stopped by Captain Sakatsuka and informed that Japan has newly surrendered.
泡红椒After the Chine National Revolutionary Army takes back the area, Dong is publicly executed for collaborating with the enemy. Ma, bent on revenge, disguis himlf as a cigarette vender and loiters outside the Japane encampment, now converted into a POW camp. When two Japane s
oldiers come out to buy cigarettes, Ma hacks them with an axe and breaks into the camp, killing more POWs. He finds and pursues Hanaya, but is brought down by guards before he can kill the latter. Major Gao (David Wu), commander of the Chine Army contingent administering the town, condemns Ma's act as too despicable to derve death by the hands of a Chine soldier, and instead orders a Japane POW to carry out the execution before a massive crowd. Captain Sakatsuka hands a katana to Hanaya, who takes careful aim before delivering the fatal strike. As Ma's head falls to the ground, it rolls six times, blinks three times, and smiles, just as 'One Strike' Liu's victims were suppod to.
[edit] Director's Intention
According to director Jiang Wen, Ma is initially very fearful but does not know the origins of his fear. The turning point comes when he es his village in flames and his fellow villagers massacred. He then overcomes his own fear and begins longing for death. In the
final scene, Ma dies a satisfying death as he has fulfilled his desire.[4]
[edit] Cast
∙Jiang Wen as Ma Dasan, a local peasant from the village of Rack-Armor Terrace
∙Kagawa Teruyuki as Kosaburo Hanaya, a captive Japane Army rgeant
∙Yuan Ding as Dong Hanchen, a captive Chine interpreter working for the Japane Army
∙Jiang Hongbo as Yu'er, a widow from Rack-Armor Terrace, lover of Ma
∙Kenya Sawada as Captain Inokichi Sakatsuka, commander of a company of Japane soldiers encamped near Rack-Armor Terrace ∙David Wu as Major Gao, commander of a National Revolutionary Army battalion administering the area after the Japane
surrender
[edit] Production
The film was inspired by and looly bad on a novella titled Survival by You Fengwei. However, the final screenplay was largely original, with only few similarities to You's novella. Director Jiang Wen and director of photography Gu Changwei made the unique choice of shooting the film in black and white in order to capture the details of the historical era depicted in the film. There were initial worries about the sales and distribution prospects for a black-and-white film, but the production eventually went ahead.
The Japane cast members in the film, two of whom came to know Jiang while on exchange in the Central Academy of Drama in the 1980s, initially expresd concerns with the Japane war crimes depicted in the film. Jiang spent two weeks discussing the issue with them, and showed them documentaries about the war, including some made by Japane filmmakers. According to Jiang, the Japane cast members eventually came to trust him. Jiang also ud many non-professional actors and actress in the film, some of whom were also members of the crew. Jiang himlf also played the leading role in the film, which he admitted was a tiring experience. He said he also came to distrust what most of the crew members said about his acting, especially when they were tired and wanting to finish for the day.[4]
An executive director from Beijing Zhongbo Times Film Planning, one of the three investors in the film, said in an interview that the total expenditure on the film approached US$3.9 million, way above the original budget, which he did not specify.[1] Later, however, a general manager from the same company told a reporter that the
initial budget was US$2 million, but the final expenditure exceeded this number by over 30 percent.[2]
[edit] Exhibition and reception收藏价值
[edit] Banned in China
Devils on the Doorstep opened on 12 May at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival where it won cond place in the Grand Prix and was nominated for the Golden Palm.[3] However, the film was subquently banned in China by the Chine Film Bureau. According to director Jiang Wen, both the Japane producers of the film and the Chine Film Bureau expresd similar concerns: "Don't let Japane soldiers kill people; Chine people shouldn't be so dumb; Japane soldiers shouldn't be kept as prisoners."[5] A report confirmed that the authorities complained that "Chine civilians [in the movie] don't hate the Japane [prisoner]", but instead are "as clo as brothers" with the latter.[6]
Time Asia reported that the Chine Film Bureau was furious at Jiang for having entered the film in the Cannes Film Festival without its permission. The Film Bureau reportedly nt two officials to Cannes to try to dissuade the festival from screening Devils on the Doorstep and demanded that Jiang hand over the negative (which was brought to Australia for post-production). There were also reports from Asian film circles that the authorities planned to punish Jiang by forbidding him to work in China for ven years.[7] A reprentative from the Chine Film Bureau confirmed that Jiang's status was "under review" and that China suspected Jiang was awarded his prize at Cannes for "poli
tical reasons".[8]
学习环境It was not known publicly if the ven-year ban was eventually impod, but Jiang did not produce any directorial work between Devils on the Doorstep and the 2007 production The Sun Also Ris. However, he did act in veral films, including The Missing Gun (2002), which was a huge commercial success in China. He was also nominated for Best Actor in the official Huabiao Awards in 2004 for his role in Warriors of Heaven and Earth (2003).
[edit] Cannes relea and cutting
The version shown at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival was three hours long. This was a working version that was later cut to 139 minutes with director Jiang Wen's full participation in order to enhance the film's commercial prospects and to tighten the storyline, which he did not have time to do before the Cannes premier.[9]
