04 Feb The Taking of Tiger Mountain (2014)
The Japanese Win?
About a 2D viewing.
This is very clearly produced under Party sponsorship to celebrate the soldiers who won the country. The contrast with US WWII films is striking. We require tough heroes, where here there is something more noble.
Two remarkable things…
The film has an odd framing device that one can only imagine was dreamed up by a Party official. A modern Chinese youngster is off to Silicon Valley as a sort of genius. He watches on an iPhone an old movie of this event, apparently staged by the Peking Opera.
In between, we have this film. At the end, we discover that he owes his existence to this and by implication his education and opportunity.
The time is set right after the collapse of the Japanese occupation. Warlords have seized the armaments and sustenance and for the People‘s Republic to succeed, ragtag groups must prevail. (No mention of the official government.)
The strange thing is that though produced by Chinese, it is thoroughly Japanese. Kurosawan to be precise.
The filmmaker remarks on this in a fun way: the movie is over, having presented the 'real‘ story. Then our young modern kid imagines an alternative ending, and it is thoroughly Indiana Jones.
Incidentally, the stunts and effects are pretty ordinary except for a sequence with a tiger. This was amazing. Had to be real.
Posted in 2015
Ted’s Evaluation — 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.
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