The Prisoner of That War

by Jefferson Wang

Shooting on Jiang Wen's new film "The Prisoner of That War" has finally finished, and post-production work is schedule to close at the end of this month. This is J

The film is set at the end of the Anti-Japanese War in 1945. A Japanese soldier and his translator are captured by Chinese forces and left to the care of the inhabitants of a small northern village. When no-one comes back to collect the prisoners, the villagers are forced to decide how to deal with their unwilling guests. The script is based on the novel "Survival" by Shandong writer You Fengwei.

Jiang says his new movie will stress the reality of the conflict, transcending the usual cliches of war films to reveal the human side of such events. But its ultimate purpose, he says, is to remind people of the cruelty and inhumanity of this piece of history. Jiang called his film as "tense but accessible, cruel but artistic, profound but humorous."

Jiang plays the main role of Da San. The heroine is played by 25-year old volleyball star Jiang Hongbo.

The film has a strong international production team. Director of photography is Gu Changwei, who is celebrated for his work on "Red Soghum," "Ju Dou", "Farewell My Concubine" and "In the Heat of the Sun." The main roles of the Japanese soldiers are played by five professional Japanese actors. The theme song was written by Cui Jian, China's first rock 'n' roll singer. The editing is in the hands of Folmber Weisinger from America.

"I want to make this film more accetable to westerners by using an American editor," said Jiang.

The film will be released in July to coincide with the 62nd anniversary of the start of the Anti-Japanese War.