When I first saw the trailer to The Assembly, many Chinese military fans (myself included) saw the departure in style away from much of the previous Chinese war films. Whereas previous films such as Tai Hang Shan Shang followed traditional depictions of large scale warfare and propaganda rhetoric, Assembly focused on the relationship among individual soldiers and the brutalities of war. Despite this change, many who first saw the trailer were also befuddled by the unique direction that it takes. On many online message boards, questions such as: why are the PLA wearing American helmets and are so well equipped? or why does the cinematography resemble Saving Private Ryan? or even as to question what campaign are they actually fighting? popped up again and again. Assembly's radical departure from traditional Chinese war films demonstrated the vision on the part of Feng XiaoGang to embrace a more humanist and personal side of war that are so common in western films. However, by conforming to western standards, The Assembly takes away much originality in portraying the unique circumstances of the Chinese Civil War, and in turn fails to relate back to many Chinese audience. In an attempt to reflect the sense of brotherhood and the absurdities of war that are so apparent in films such as Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, and Taegukgi; Assembly ultimately accomplishes neither.
Although i first welcomed the refreshing change in presented in the Assembly, the heavily borrowed western styles proved to be too impersonal from the Chinese perspective. Nearly every element of the film have distinct and or subliminal western influence. For example, the 47 soldiers of 9th Company may loosely reference the Japanese story of the 47 Ronin whom shared the similar sacrifice to uphold their loyalty and honor. Furthermore, this is probably the first Chinese war film i encountered where the word 'comrade' was replaced by the word 'brothers' to reflect the interpersonal relationships among the soldiers. The other obvious western influence comes from the dark cinematography and shaky camera work from films such as Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers. Even the theme song or MV to this movie is a reworded Chinese version of 'You Raise Me Up'. These Western styles are further reinforced by elements within the story that further reveal objective aspect of these influences. The film justifies the use of Western helmets and weapons by establishing the fact that they were confiscated from the nationalists (in addition to the later scene of a covert action that require American disguises). These in-story, or objective elements have no fault on their own given the possible historical circumstances. But after combining these in story elements with the stylistic elements; the Movie becomes woefully unoriginal and unreflective of the Chinese experience.Although Assembly may be unique for a Chinese war movie, its no different from Western films.
Problems in perspectives asides, there are still significant problems within the actual movie that fail to live up to its potential even from a western view. The theme of brotherhood is obviously one of the most important element in the film. However, Assembly reflect very little character development to connect the audience to the 47 soldiers. Foreign films such as Saving Private Ryan and even Taegukgi give the audience some sense of the brotherhood between the soldiers and the different personalities of many of these soldiers. By the end of the Assembly, I can probably name at the most 4 or 5 characters who are unique, while all the other are often nameless and undeveloped. Instead the crux of the story in the Assembly focused on one man's own convictions to find his men. The singularities of Captain Gu's role also shifted the focus away from the first half of the story that dealt with the men of 9th Company. Although we do get the sense of the heartbreaking devotion of Gu to his unit, the lack of the sense of comradeship (or at least the development of) within 9th company takes away from the full potential of the film.
Another problem of Assembly was the failure to depict the side of the enemy. Western war movies generally humanizes the enemy. Assembly however, had little screen time for the opposing nationalistic forces. Given that this movie deals with the Chinese Civil War, the failure to address the nationalist side is inexcusable . From the Chinese perspective, in a war that was essentially a war between brothers (Chinese vs. Chinese), the singular focus on the PLA does not justify the overall scope of the conflict. Assembly could have the great potential of depicting both sides of the conflict, and reflect the important anti-war message in the context of a absurd civil war.
Even when you watch the Assembly from the conventional perspective there are problems within the story. For example, the presence of the only female role seems forced and poorly developed (she seem to just follow around Gu); there could have been more potential for her role. In addition, i didn't find the battle scenes particularly epic. All in all, Assembly is a decent war film from the western perspective, but from a Chinese view, it both inadequate and impersonal. For those looking for an authentic and unique Chinese war film that is appealing to the Chinese experience, we would most likely still have to wait.
Although i first welcomed the refreshing change in presented in the Assembly, the heavily borrowed western styles proved to be too impersonal from the Chinese perspective. Nearly every element of the film have distinct and or subliminal western influence. For example, the 47 soldiers of 9th Company may loosely reference the Japanese story of the 47 Ronin whom shared the similar sacrifice to uphold their loyalty and honor. Furthermore, this is probably the first Chinese war film i encountered where the word 'comrade' was replaced by the word 'brothers' to reflect the interpersonal relationships among the soldiers. The other obvious western influence comes from the dark cinematography and shaky camera work from films such as Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers. Even the theme song or MV to this movie is a reworded Chinese version of 'You Raise Me Up'. These Western styles are further reinforced by elements within the story that further reveal objective aspect of these influences. The film justifies the use of Western helmets and weapons by establishing the fact that they were confiscated from the nationalists (in addition to the later scene of a covert action that require American disguises). These in-story, or objective elements have no fault on their own given the possible historical circumstances. But after combining these in story elements with the stylistic elements; the Movie becomes woefully unoriginal and unreflective of the Chinese experience.Although Assembly may be unique for a Chinese war movie, its no different from Western films.
Problems in perspectives asides, there are still significant problems within the actual movie that fail to live up to its potential even from a western view. The theme of brotherhood is obviously one of the most important element in the film. However, Assembly reflect very little character development to connect the audience to the 47 soldiers. Foreign films such as Saving Private Ryan and even Taegukgi give the audience some sense of the brotherhood between the soldiers and the different personalities of many of these soldiers. By the end of the Assembly, I can probably name at the most 4 or 5 characters who are unique, while all the other are often nameless and undeveloped. Instead the crux of the story in the Assembly focused on one man's own convictions to find his men. The singularities of Captain Gu's role also shifted the focus away from the first half of the story that dealt with the men of 9th Company. Although we do get the sense of the heartbreaking devotion of Gu to his unit, the lack of the sense of comradeship (or at least the development of) within 9th company takes away from the full potential of the film.
Another problem of Assembly was the failure to depict the side of the enemy. Western war movies generally humanizes the enemy. Assembly however, had little screen time for the opposing nationalistic forces. Given that this movie deals with the Chinese Civil War, the failure to address the nationalist side is inexcusable . From the Chinese perspective, in a war that was essentially a war between brothers (Chinese vs. Chinese), the singular focus on the PLA does not justify the overall scope of the conflict. Assembly could have the great potential of depicting both sides of the conflict, and reflect the important anti-war message in the context of a absurd civil war.
Even when you watch the Assembly from the conventional perspective there are problems within the story. For example, the presence of the only female role seems forced and poorly developed (she seem to just follow around Gu); there could have been more potential for her role. In addition, i didn't find the battle scenes particularly epic. All in all, Assembly is a decent war film from the western perspective, but from a Chinese view, it both inadequate and impersonal. For those looking for an authentic and unique Chinese war film that is appealing to the Chinese experience, we would most likely still have to wait.