Assembly (2007) User Reviews

I will definitely encourage people to watch this movie

[conradlee · 8/10 · 30 January 2008]

I gotta say that in the first 40 minutes of the battle show, I did spot scenes from Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers and the Korean: Taegukgi hwinalrimyeo (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386064/). Actually, I'm not surprised at all, I mean who (the directors) wouldn't do the same thing? Some directors might curse Steven Spielberg for not leaving them much room to shoot a different war movie after Saving Private Ryan, and indeed this movie has, in my opinion, in no way transcended the 1998 war masterpiece. Still, I'd like to give credit to this Chinese director for his guts to do such a Chinese war movie that well handles battle scenes with great details, tells the audiences the past without being necessarily affected by current Chinese politics, and touches a lot of people simply because most of the story feels just down to earth and so damned real. I won't go any further on these points, because there's one more significant thing about this movie, i.e., it's the first of this director's works that could be appreciated by all the audiences other than those from mainland China only.

The director has been a big name in Chinese movie industry by the end of last century, bringing Chinese fresh outlooks about domestic movies. However, one could probably better understand the director and his previous movies only from a "Chinese" perspective. And when I say "Chinese", I mean you'd better be living in mainland China, excluding SARs like Hong Kong. But this time, as I said, it's quite different since anyone could understand and appreciate the story. It's a good shot to see how far Chinese movies can go internationally without the presence of Kongfu and male characters with long braid at the back of their heads, without the setting in a remote and underdeveloped Chinese countryside, and without bold and overused sexual scenes.

I read about this movie on the internet for the last few days, and it was this piece of information from a Chinese blog that drove me to watch it, and I quote and translate this information as follows: "... at 23:00 when the movie Ji jie hao ended in a Beijing's big movie theatre tonight, with no presence of any of the directors and actors with the movie, the audiences were unwilling to leave their seats, and along with them was only their tears and standing applause."

With no stars in this movie, it was reported that the box office hit 2,000 million Chinese dollars 2 weeks after the premiere in China. I will definitely encourage both Chinese and non-Chinese to watch this movie. And for those who might be interested in our ancient country, I recommend two other quality movies: Huozhe ("to be alive" 1994) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110081/; and Ba wang bie ji ("farewell, my concubine" 1993) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106332/.

A Nutshell Review: Assembly

[DICK STEEL · 8/10 · 3 January 2008]

Feng Xiaogang's Assembly was the opening film at last year's Pusan International Film Festival, and tickets were sold out in record time once they were made available online. Such is the faith (or curiosity) of the new film from the director who brought us movies like World Without Thieves, and martial arts Hamlet The Banquet. When you think of Chinese directors making a movie based out of Chinese history, you can't help but imagine the massive amount of propaganda that get so blatantly infused into the story and especially the dialogue. But here, Feng managed to bring about a movie which goes beyond the usual ra- ra, and shows us that a movie with universal themes can also come out from what is essentially a war movie based upon China's tumultuous era after WWII.

Assembly refers to the call of the bugle to retreat and regroup, and this is the call that Captain Gu Zidi (Zhang Hanyu) and his 47 men of the 9th Company, 3rd Batallion, 139th Regiment, are keenly listening out for, as they go about their mission in ill-equipped fashion, holding fort on a strategic plain. Sent to the frontlines for war-crimes, Captain Gu and his men, while being the best at trench warfare, find themselves severely lacking in essentials - manpower, ammunition and heavy weaponry, as they go up against the marauding forces of the Nationalist army, with their relatively superior armour. However, their mantra is old school - only the bugle will signal their fall behind, and everything else means fulfilling their mission objectives at all costs.

While all might seem lost, this provides the kind of tales of valour that comes out of these battles, something like 300's. Assembly honours the spirit of the unit, of their tales of bravery and unflinching under insurmountable odds. If you're looking for a war movie, then Assembly will not disappoint. For the first hour anyway. Told in three acts, the first act, all 60 minutes of it, is where the action takes place. The war sequences here aren't poetic in the veins of Terence Mallick's The Thin Red Line, but are more aligned with Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, with its gritty realism, strained colours, and bloody, gory violence.

We're probably, in recent years, in tune with war movies that put us in the shoes of aggressors, and that is to follow an assault team. Very rarely are we put into trenches and be seen to be on the defensive like that of Iwo Jima, soaking up wave after wave of attacks. And that's where Assembly shines, in having four intense battle sequences, three of which were on the defensive scheme of warfare, and the other, while an assault, does seem more to be on the losing end rather than achieving a clear, decisive victory. If details are what you're after, then you probably can't go wrong with the single bolt weapon, primitive artillery and the sharing of tin helmets. In fact, you'll probably be wondering instead that the PLA at the time was really backward, given the world's military technological advancement in the West/Japan during the 40s.

And given last year's double bill by Clint Eastwood in Flags of our Fathers and Iwo Jima, Assembly seems like both movies combined, in providing both an in-depth look at the battles fought, as well as taking time off to contemplate more serious issues in dramatic fashion. In the second and last acts which take up the remaining hour, we follow Captain Gu as he tries his darnedest best to get his company recognized for the contribution it made, no matter how minuscule it might seem compared to the helicopter view of achievements. These acts might bore those who came satisfied with the first half, but for those looking into a more intimate drama of one man's fight for his lost brothers, then this portion will likely appeal to you.

Ultimately, Assembly is an ambitious film. It combines drama and action, and in both aspects, doesn't hold back in bringing about the best it probably could. Kudos go to actor Zhang Hanyu who plays Captain Gu, in what can be essentially a one man show, putting focus of his place in history and his solo fight against the system. And after watching this, you'll probably won't hesitate to watch another war movie coming out of China, if they meet the benchmark set by Feng Xiaogang. Recommended!

Compare this one to western war movies to see culture differences.

[honorhorror · 8/10 · 11 April 2008]

Besides all the positive reviews about its realistic visual style, the shaky camera and all the "Private Ryan" stuff, it really deserved compliments from Chinese people, while we can see the true differences between Chinese people and Western people in a cultural perspective.

I've read some reviews criticizing the Assembly for it being too "western", and has significantly less character development in the entire movie, but to state in short Assembly is a movie purely shot from the angle of Captain Gu, who is the main man in the movie. It is very unusual to portray any war from an individual perspective for Chinese, even not in recent years. However, once someone wants to try it, it will come out with some side effects bound with Chinese culture. 1, Captain Gu's character is very "north-Chinese", which means he takes everything personally and with high dedication. Usually, he takes his men more than brothers. When brothers die, he cares about their bodies and believes they will be reincarnated. This is very typical Chinese man-man relationship in a near-modern china. Plus, the supporting characters are not memorable enough due to the magnitude of this Chinese civil war. China has the largest population in the world, which means one or two lives are not significant. And even the director strives to focus on individuals, such reality still rule the whole story.

2, Captain Gu's has a significant pursuit over the comrades' honor they deserved. However if you were Chinese, you would feel the motivations behind this action are strongly related to Chinese beliefs. Gu has strong emotions on his men, but he never accepted the truth that they are all gone. He'd believe they wouldn't rest in peace because the earthly honor unattained. Besides, director Feng Xiaogang apparently deviated from the typical Chinese war movies' atheism tune and communism campaign injected by political needs. This is to note the fact that very few man purely completely accepted atheism, even in a Communism China.

Well done. This is a Chinese war movie about the wide gray scale in the war and in China.

2, Captain Gu's

Not the same war movie we are used to...

[oanhdien · 8 March 2008]

indeed,i agree this is a very powerful movie: chapeau to mr feng Xiaogang for this tour de force ! recent years war movies the like of "flags of our fathers", "saving private ryan","iwo jima" are certainly (and always will be) violent but with lesser gratuitous effects and they dealt very justly with the myriads of war consequences, first on the soldiers and the rest of us. i salute the initiative of mr feng. here, i am not comparing his 'the assembly' to the previous film titles, for no war is alike and comparable. but his courage in depicting a period of profound political disturbance in his own country make us all stop and ponder, and this is on a personal note since i am vietnamese and having lived through much of my own country's war, what are the tragedies of fratricide between brothers of same origins, beliefs and values. mr feng showed us the strong sides and the various weak sides of soldier in this part of the hemisphere. by that process, he erased those past clichés of Asian cultures in the practice of that belligerent art. is or are there any morality stemming out of this movie ? mr feng will be more apt to answer than myself. finally, i wish someone in my own country could have courage and integrity ( and resources !) to make this kind of movie for future generations to learn from our past. mr feng has carved himself an indelebile mark in Chinese filmaking. bravos...

A significant Chinese war film that ultimately disappoints

[Joe_Xu · 6/10 · 26 January 2008]

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.

Anonymous Heroes

[claudio_carvalho · 9/10 · 27 September 2008]

In 1948, during the Chinese Civil War, the Captain Gu Zidi (Hanyu Zhang) from the Liberation Army falls in disgrace with his superiors after an incident with prisoners of war. He is assigned with his forty-seven soldiers from the Ninth Company to defend a coal mine until they hear the retreat assembly of the bugle. Gu Zidi never hears the call, his men die and he gathers their bodies inside the mine. Gu Zidi awakes in a hospital and neither his identity and nor his officer ranking are recognized; the forty-seven soldiers that heroically died are only considered missing and their action is completely unknown by the high-command. Gu Zidi fights in the Korea War and spends the rest of his life feeling guilty for the death of his men and trying to prove and achieve recognition for the honorable deed of his forty-seven soldiers.

"Ji Jie Hao" is an impressive movie about the Chinese Civil War of 1948. The director Xiaogang Feng succeeds in promoting the true story of the journey of a man that spends his life trying to prove the bravery of his men that are in complete anonymity through a touching story. The extremely realistic battle scenes are comparable to "Taegukgi Hwinalrimyeo" and "Saving Private Ryan", with stunning camera work, performances and choreography. The cinematography is magnificent, and Hanyu Zhang has an awesome performance in the role of the tireless Captain Gu Zidi. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Assembléia" ("Assembly")

2nd half too stretched out

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 26 September 2015]

It's 1948 in northeast China. Communist Captain Gu Zidi leads his men in a battle against Nationalist troops. When his political officer is brutally killed, he orders his men to kill the captured enemies. His men refuse and he is reprimand by his superior. His group is assigned to the trenches next to a mine and ordered not to retreat until they hear the bugler call for assembly. Gu Zidi is the only survivor after a final battle and he has fight bureaucracy for the honor of the men who are simply declared MIA.

The first half has lots of war action. Some of it is not particularly realistic but there are tons of explosive action. The second half is mostly about Gu Zidi's struggle for recognition for his lost men. There is a lot of melodrama and fake emotions except for one amazing moment. It is the pinnacle of this movie and I would prefer it as the climax. When the men started to claim they hear the bugle, I sat up a little and paid more attention. It is probably the only moment where the emotions match the drama. Honestly, the movie needs to cut out about 30 minutes from the second half of the movie. The only compelling part in the second half is him digging in the coal pile by himself. It's very poetic but not compelling enough to justify the very long and winding story.

The First Military Blockbuster of China

[ddeell72 · 10/10 · 24 December 2007]

After so many years waiting, there comes "Assembly", the first military blockbuster of China that Chinese movie and military fans have been hardly expecting for such a long time! I believe this movie will pose an extreme important position both in the movie history and military culture of China.

Since Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan" and Tom Hanks' "Band of Brothers", shooting an excellent and extraordinary warfare movie becomes a great dream among Chinese movie and military fans. Due to political and history reasons, military is a sensitive subject for normal directors and production companies. The official August 1st Movie Studio of PLA is nearly the only producer of military movies. Though there were also many famous works such as the epic trilogy of "Decisive Engagement", the majority of this studio's products are mainly designed to meet propaganda and political priorities, then secondly for art or to restore history. As for those so called "main theme of nowadays" military TV series and plays, absolutely rubbish! (Except "A Soldier's Charge")

"Assembly" becomes a turning point. Yes, August 1st Movie Studio did supply some assistance during the making, but "Assembly" is not an official product of the Authority. It aims at entertainment area, uses commercial method combined with modern movie technology, rather than compulsory propaganda, to win the New-Year-Eve movie mark campaign in China.

Director Feng Xiaogang did it. "Assembly" sets a new level for Chinese military movies. And wins the hart of many audiences, fulfills its mission to be the first military blockbuster of China that people expecting long. I don't mind the special effects of war were created by the same team in Korea's "Taegukgi hwinalrimyeo". I'm just so pleased that China is now also able to shoot such a warfare movie that shake my heart so greatly and touch my emotion so deeply, that reflect the brutality of war and restore history details so really! Just like the Hollywood did! Nearly-real combat scenes and explosions shot by a shaking camera, old weapons and uniform (Type 55 uniform of PLA) in history exactly restored, native language of that period, and so on…… These scenes only exist in our dreams before, now they finally come into big screen!

Unlike the epic works of August 1st Movie Studio that mainly focus on great leaders, "Assembly" precisely draws the inner heart of a normal person for the first time. What's more, the director didn't avoid sensitive history matters. In order to gain martyr identities for his gloriously died comrades, Company Leader Gu Zidi came through lots of unfair treatment after the founding of new China. He never gave up and continually to fight, to find his men's bodies, until they were formally confirmed as martyrs and buried in 1958.

By the end of the story, when 47 heroes finally received the medals and salute that belong to them, tears break out from the eyes of every audience. That is the real glory of a Chinese soldier, the real spirit of Chinese people!

ddeell72,Christmas Eve, 2007

Just another communist propaganda.

[Hunky Stud · 7/10 · 23 February 2010]

I have heard a lot of good things about this movie, so I decided to watch it.

Well, it wasn't as good as I expected at all. Essentially, it is just another Chinese communist propaganda. No matter how big the mistake the Party made, in the end, the Chinese communist party always does the right thing for its people. That is basically what every mainland Chinese movie is all about. This is just another updated version with better picture quality and better sound effects.

For mainland Chinese people, they got brainwashed by the Chinese communist party. Of course, they love this movie. It makes them feel so touched and "proud". There is nothing to be proud of, because the Chinese communist soldiers were killing the Chinese nationalist soldiers who were also Chinese. At that time, the Chinese communist soldiers would be labeled at anti-government terrorists according to today's standard.

If the Chinese communist party didn't win the civil war, China might be a better country than it is today. And look at today's China, so many common people have so many things that they want to complain to the communist party, but some of them were even sent to the psychiatric hospitals.

The first hour was way too long. It was a simple story, there is no need to show the audience one event for an entire hour. Some of the scenes remind of me "Saving private Ryan." Remember people, only good things about the Chinese communist party are allowed to be made movies. The bad things are not even allowed to be published anywhere inside of mainland China. Those oversea web sites are also blocked inside of mainland China. That is the reality.

an excellent film bound up with the Chinese chivalry traditions

[zzhou5 · 10/10 · 27 December 2007]

This is an excellent military blockbuster which might remind people of less its American counterpart Save Private Ryan than the traditions of the Chinese chivalry which lays a stress emphasis on "Name" or "Title".

Gu Zi Di(Millet Field), who is orphaned in a famine and named after the millet field where he was picked up,tried conscientiously every means to reclaim the credit of being martyrs( the holy death) for his 47 neglected dead comrades. Considering his growing background, one might find it easy to understand his obsession with the "Name", the importance of doing justice to the name and reputation of the dead rather than leaving the holy dead in obscurity. To put the figure in a historical perspective, he is actually an ideal reincarnation of the traditional Chinese knight who pursues the justice in disregard of the cumbersome secular hypocrisy and bureaucracy.

I think the film is aimed to re-appropriate the Chinese chivalry tradition in a modern military background to inject masculine heroism into the mercantile contemporary Chinese society where a vast number of people are lost in mercenariness,not ashamed of losing their name in idolization of money-ism.

Too many side stories in one movie

[kluseba · 6/10 · 2 September 2013]

"Assembly" is a Chinese war movie made in collaboration with the special effects and stunt coordinators from the Korean war epic "Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood Of War" which is one of the greatest modern war movies along with "My Way".

Despite the great war scenes, "Assembly" doesn't come close to the high quality of the aforementioned titles.

The viewer is thrown too fast into the story. It's 1948 and wartime in China. We follow the fate of Captain Gu Zidi of the Ninth Company. That's where some viewers might already feel mixed up. Who is at war and why? The movie doesn't explain this issue properly. Let me tell you that we are in the middle of the second wave of the Chinese Civil War. By the end of the Second Sino-Japanese which basically was the Japanese invasion of China during World War II, Communist troops of the later People's Republic of China and nationalist troops of the Kuomintang and the later Republic of China relocated to Taiwan picked up their hostilities again that first erupted back in 1927 and that only came to an end in 1949 when the Communists won. Captain Gu Zidi is representing the Communists and is invading a small town occupied by the Nationalists. He wins the battle with severe casualties. When his political officer dies, he loses his temper and orders in vain to shoot the surviving war prisoners. This brutal attempt leads to a short punishment where Gu Zidi meets an intellectual pacifist and teacher. The two different men befriend each other. Upon Gu's request, the teacher becomes the new political officer who accompanies the Ninth Company to protect an old strategic mine at Wen River.

What we see then is how the Company fights back the Kuomintang at all costs. They have to stay and fight until they hear the bugle call for assembly. The fight scenes are glorious but overlong. Some characters start getting some identity and development. Ironically, almost all of them are immediately killed which makes these script attempts useless and the story odd. When some soldiers pretend to have heard the bugle call and others don't, Gu Zidi who has become partially deaf during battle becomes desperate and orders his troop to stay. The whole situation gets tense when a third wave of attacks comes in but the promising scenes are suddenly cut in the oddest way.

We are thrown a few months or years into the future. The movie fails to tell us what exactly happened and where we are. The viewers only realize that Gu Zidi is the only survivor of the Company but nobody remembers them. Treated with ignorance and struck by remorse, he decides to join the Korean War that took place from 1950 to 1953. The Chinese troops supported North Korea when South Korean and American troops invaded the northern part of the peninsula and were about to reach the Chinese frontier. We only see a few war scenes here when Gu Zidi saves the life of his platoon commander who stepped on a landmine and loses a part of his sight.

We are then thrown another few years into the future. Gu Zidi looks for the battlefield where his Company died. He fights for recognition of his soldiers' glorious death on duty. He is only supported by the platoon commander of the Korean War and the widow of the intellectual political officer. Ridden by despair, Gu picks up fights with the government, tries to find the bodies of the dead and seems to lose track of reality. By lucky coincidence, he meets the bugler who was supposed to call back the Ninth Company for assembly who tells him that he never did that call and that the Ninth Company was abandoned by its superiors.

Gu Zidi can't turn the page. Even though his men are honoured posthumously, he absolutely wants to find their bodies. Many years later, excavations for an irrigation project finally uncover them. A large monument is erected and formal burial performed.

Gu finally remembers what happened on the battlefield back in the days. His political officer and him were the only survivors after the third wave of attacks. He ordered the officer to sacrifice himself and make the mine explode so that the bodies wouldn't fall into the hands of the Kuomintang. Gu went out on one last suicidal mission and attacked a tank of the Kuomintang. Apparently, he survived somehow as he was left for dead, hid himself in the mines and put on the uniform of a Kuomintang soldier. What exactly happened is never unveiled and the movie ends there.

After all, the film has too many cuts. Only historical experts might be able to follow it properly. What starts as a gripping but one- dimensional war movie ends up being a dull personal drama. This mixture of genres isn't balanced very well. The story is sometimes hard to follow. Too many details remain obscure.

The elements that save this movie are the special effects, the cinematography, the soundtrack and the solid acting, especially by main actor Zhang Hanyu.

On a positive side note, this movie has no propaganda tendencies like similar films. It doesn't tell if the Communists or the Kuomintang are better or who is good or evil in the Korean War. It only tells us the tale of a desperate captain who wants to discover the truth about his soldiers. At some points, the movie even criticizes the Chinese Communist government who doesn't help the broken man and employs an ignorant attitude.

This war movie has a few strengths but almost as many flaws. Only cinematic war maniacs and history experts may be rewarded. Anyone else may find this hard to sit through despite a glorious main actor. There also exists a second "Assembly" movie that doesn't relate to this one.

A gripping Chinese war film, by turns brutal, moving and provocative

[Robert_Woodward · 9/10 · 16 July 2008]

Assembly is a gripping film about the Chinese civil war and its aftermath, recounted through the story of a doomed company of Communist soldiers and the subsequent struggle of their commander, Gu Zidi, to win recognition for their sacrifice. Hanyu Zhang is superb in the role of Gu Zidi, carrying the memory of his lost and forgotten comrades, and is the focus for a film that is by turns brutal, moving and provocative.

The opening battle scene is Assembly is startlingly violent and throughout the film the portrayal of modern weaponry and its effect upon human bodies is truly frightening. The battles are impressively staged and meticulously detailed, from the soldiers' uniforms to the networks of defensive trenches. There are some eye-opening details about the nature of warfare in the Chinese civil war, including the deployment of 'political officers' to encourage Communist troops to act in line with Party doctrine.

Admittedly, much of the film's appeal stems from its foreign origins. The Chinese civil war and the subsequent war in Korea are not often portrayed in the cinema, and it is even more rare to get a Chinese perspective on these events. Certainly this makes it difficult to find a point of reference by which to assess the success of Assembly. Nevertheless, I did have some reservations, including the camera-work. The battle scenes cut frantically between different shots, unlike, for instance, the opening scenes in Saving Private Ryan, where the action relentlessly tracks the soldiers' landing on the D-Day beach. This repeated cutting and changing conveys some sense of the chaos of warfare, but I feel that the shaky camera-work was overplayed and found this a bit irksome after the first few battle scenes.

A more general problem is that this film focuses almost exclusively on the actions of the Communist soldiers. It would have been interesting to learn more about the Nationalist Guomindang soldiers, but they are barely afforded any speaking roles. Although Assembly is written from the perspective of the winning side, it does not begin to examine why the Communists were at one time so short of munitions and especially men in fighting the war against the Nationalists. The story of Gu Zidi's company of men is a battle against the odds, but the film does not delve into the root causes of their desperation.

But although Assembly is a portrait of one side in a long military conflict there is surprising depth to this portrait. The film does not follow a straightforward triumphalist narrative about Communist war heroes, but instead builds a complex tale of an individual (Gu Zidi) who struggles for the posthumous recognition of individual soldiers who made an individual sacrifice. These were soldiers who were scared and sometimes balked at the dangers before them – as would anyone – but they made the ultimate sacrifice and Gu Zidi strives to have their efforts recognised as a unique contribution to the war effort. That it is such a great struggle for Gu Zidi to secure a memorial for these fallen comrades is at least partly an indictment of post-war society and government in China.

Assembly achieves a remarkable amount in less than two hours. It is a vivid reconstruction of struggles during and after the war and is moreover a deeply moving experience, especially in its final frames. And if part of the appeal lies in the fact that this is a foreign film about a little-known war, then that is all the more reason to seek it out.

In war, both sides have heroes

[wickedmikehampton · 6/10 · 15 December 2020]

Watched Chinese director Xiaogang Feng's 'Youth'. That appreciation made me watch his 'Assembly' which is a biopic of a captain who survived whilst his 47 men died.

Whereas Western history preaches that WW2 ended in 1945, the nightmare carried on far longer in other parts of the world. The war between communism and capitalism, that resulted in Korea being split asunder, had 5 million die between 1950 and 1953.

Wars are mostly manifestations of a greedy minority with utter disregard for human cannon fodder.

On the ground, both sides have heroes, and each think the other is the enemy. Emotions are universal.

Consequently, it's important to watch movies from different perspectives which, if they're decently dramatic, will have the shared lesson in that war should be avoided.

'The Front Line' was an excellent movie from the South Korean perspective. 'Assembly' isn't its equal, but it was good and gave the Chinese view.

Watchable but overrated in my opinion

[alexfromhorn · 5/10 · 19 October 2018]

I generally like chinese movies but I'm not so much into war movies, so with this predisposition this movie was an awkward choice to me. So I kinda enjoyed the first 10min, but after 30min I was really bored and that was the case because it was only fighting scenes in the trenches and ruins, and they really lacked in depth. There were some innovative scenes in terms of action but it was a very dragging plot that didn't really develop any suspense. So after 30min I have skipped the next 30mins that were also only trenches, ruins and fighting because I honestly had enough of it. So the second half of the movie is set after the war, and there the movie became interesting again, a lot of insights into communist China and many other things that I don't want to spoil, although that plot was dragging a bit aswell but not too much. Summed up: First half was a boring action war movie but the second half was a solid drama. Info for german viewers: The dubbing was really well done, but somehow the Bluray video quality was quite grainy so it was not as clear as it could have been I guess.

"Saving Private Ryan" it is not, but it is as well worth viewing!

[Master_of_My_Domain · 6 February 2008]

"Saving Private Ryan" it is NOT, but certainly it is as equally worth viewing for any fans of military/warfare film. And for any "westerners" unaccustomed with China's history, it may give some insight to tiny part of her modern part some 50+ years ago events that led to fall of Chang Kai Shek and rise of communism under Mao Zhe Dong's.

The story line is compelling, similarly to "SPR" we have some well drawn all-human characters and their war story laced with brutal, bloody and yet so mesmerizing scenes, an insight to mankind at its worst.

The acting is excellent, even the supporting actors and extras performed all great or at least sufficiently enough to make us believe the scenes we are watching could have happened exactly as they are portrayed on the screen.

Why then I gave it 9 instead of 10? Well. Firstly. The film, although officially not the production of "1st of August Film Studio" (official Chinese communist party's propaganda flicks maker), it still suffers a bit from their propagandist influence. The red comrades are nicer than their nationalist foes and - according to this film's tones and "between the lines" messages - they fought for their country (implying that the Chang Kai Shek's nationalists were traitors). Like the hundreds of millions Chinese murdered later by the China's Communist Party during the years that followed have never happened, hmm. But, of course, for the characters shown in the film, it is their future. They don't know it yet - OK, I can believe that. But why PLA's foes (the Nationalists) are basically the shadows in this film? For a "humane warfare film" (as this film is pretending to be about) it is very unhuman depiction of 'the other side' - and I didn't hear anything about Mr. Xiaogang Feng plans to make a sequel about them... (like Clint Eastwood did with "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Letters from Iwo Jima") Second. While the fighting scenes and visual FX are great, the sets weren't prepared as equally. And I really mean it. The hand-held camera actions, the gory, the over-all realism of the brutal warfare scenes are almost as great as the ones in "SPR". But unfortunately the set decorators more often than not were skimping on the realism of the set. So-obvious spray-painting black patches on the walls (to masquerade them as burnt-out or post-explosion marks) is so evident failure of completing the film's realism to me (and I'm not even mentioning those PLA soldiers wearing US helmets - after all it *may* have happened somehow). Yes, I understand that most of the film-viewers wouldn't even notice it, but since so much energy, so much attention to other details was paid during the production of this film, why oh why they couldn't close it complete in every detail?

Incredible story of loyalty

[paulclaassen · 7/10 · 18 June 2018]

Impressive albeit shocking. The horrors of war are so well depicted in this epic war film - quite frankly one of the best war films I've seen. The fighting scenes are brutal, merciless and disturbing. Very realistic with great photography and visuals. I enjoyed the post-war story just as much. An incredible story of loyalty and determination. So sad.

One of the best war films shifts from bone rattling action to a more personal quest. If you can go with the shift and realize its all about the people it will move you deeply

[dbborroughs · 10/10 · 26 May 2008]

In 1948 during the Chinese Civil War a broken company of men is ordered to hold an old mine until the bugler plays assembly.After the war the captain of the men, the only survivor and the only one who said he did not hear the bugle call, tries to find their bodies and prove his men died as heroes.

Profoundly moving story of the brotherhood created in war and the need to right an old wrong. Though not quite perfect, this is one of the best war films I've seen, period. Its power comes not from the battles, rather from the humanity of those that fight. This is a film about people and characters first and foremost and its what lifts this toward greatness. I have never seen a film where everyone, on both sides of the battle, are portrayed as human beings. There are no monsters, no stick figures, just people. Even the people in the mass of uniforms are people even if we only see them for an instant. This is a film about the people, and the individuals who fight in times of war. None of the main characters are clichés. Its not like Saving Private Ryan where everyone is a WW2 cliché, here we have people and even if we don't know everything about them we do know that they are individuals. This is a film about the human cost of war.

Ultimately the film works because of Zhang Hanyu as Captain Gu Zidi. Here is a man who is racked with guilt for "killing" all of his men. He wants nothing better than to honor them, and when after being found in the carnage of that final battle he comes to realize that no one believes him, he is forced to not only fight on but also do everything he can to see that the memory of the brave brothers is kept alive. Zhang Hanyu breaks your heart as he tries to both join his men and prove to the world that what they did mattered. It is a portrait of quiet strength and occasional rage that makes you feel for him and for the men who fought with him. Its one of the best performances of the year.

I know for some the first hour of relentless battle (its nasty) will make the more sedate second half something they will have trouble sitting through. I know some will wonder where the guns have gone, but at the same time this is not a story of battle but of people. The horrors of the first hour (filmed in the now standard shaky cam style) make the poignancy of Captain Zidi's quest all the more touching, since he wants to make his mens sacrifice and trip into hell worth something. You really have to be patient and go with the film and let the film reward you in its own way. I suspect that knowing the film shifts gears for the second half helps since you don't have expectations of a two hour battle. I know that my initial attempt at watching this film blind lead me to believe this was going to be wall to wall action, however a friend who borrowed my copy before I could finish it warned me of the tone change and I think it helped me a great deal when I finally watched it from start to finish.

You really should see this film since it ultimately speaks to all people who send their sons and daughters off to war and why we need to remember them.

9plus out of 10 And yes its a true story.

A well-done war film

[Z21708 · 7/10 · 16 February 2022]

This film not only tells a gripping, heart-felt story, but also tells a war story in such a manner from a perspective you don't see much often: the Communists. Despite this, I personally feel there is no attempt to sway your line of thinking one way or the other, it exists solely to tell a story about the horrors of war. Gu Zidi is such a real, believable character in this film, and his story is rather heart-felt, saddening, and bleak as far as war movies I've seen are concerned.

All I can say is, it's well done as far as war films of this caliber are concerned. Not the best, but far from the worst.

A extraordinarily moving military epic

[kngsTeiN · 10/10 · 9 January 2008]

I was attracted by the film when the trailers came out. I was at first shocked by its vivid, cruel and accurate description of the war scene. But when I watched this film at the cinema, I could hardly hold back my tears. It's not a pure military blockbuster. It's a story of a hero searching for the glory and the honor that he and his brothers deserved. It's a story of the return of a long-lost heroism.

I think the biggest breakthrough that Xiaogang Feng made is there was no propaganda for the Communist Party of China. Soldiers pulled the triggers of their rifles because it was their mission that demanded them to do so. They feared blood, feared death. They would step back when bullets were buzzing around. They would save their friend from dying at any cost. I'd say that director Feng had created some real vivid figures. The soldiers in the film are a real reflection of the true Chinese spirit.

As a Chinese, I loved this movie very much even though it was not 100% "Made in China", for it was a milestone in the Chinese film history where directors learned not to simply imitate how American or European directors to shoot a movie, but to use these technologies to tell a more convincing story. Heroes are still human beings, and this is what "The Assembly" actually wanted to tell.

I'll give a 10/10. It's really worth watching, at least from the point of view of a Chinese.

Honest, Brutal. But Then, Lacking A Certain Depth

[denis888 · 6/10 · 18 October 2017]

This is the first mainland China war epic that I've watched and I can say it left very mixed feelings. On one hand, Assembly, or 集結 號, or Jí Jié Hào, which means something like Assembly Bugle Call, is a very honest portrayal of a Chinese Civil War with its sheer and awfully realistic brutality. The very realism is then quickly becoming sickening with all those snots, saliva, guts, blood, wounds and deaths galore. On the other hand, the film quickly runs off its initial steam and glides into a sentimental, very politically correct patriotic saga of a brave officer doing valiant things. This intake of patriotism actually spoils a very potential hit and makes it a sickly sweet propaganda flick. Mind you, actors are excellent, especially Zhang Hanyu and Yuan Wenkang, battle scenes are enormous and thrilling, which is no wonder since it was cut by Korean filmmakers who know their trade. The dialog is often hammy and openly silly, thus deleting all the good potential. This is a very curious hothcpotch of a film that may be seen once, but since it sinks under its own weight, better be watched and then discarded

A surprisingly good movie made by Mainland China - Bravo!

[galith · 10/10 · 18 June 2009]

Prior to watching this movie I have read a few decent reviews about it. After watching it, I must admit, it exceeded my expectations. Very realistic battle scenes, good character development, a bit weak on the romance side of things, but hey, this isn't a chick flick.

My Chinese Mandarin skills are weak, so I appreciate the good quality English subtitles provided.

Overall, I think China has taken a good step in creating this movie so that it does not appear like a "state-run, propaganda" film...rather a real film with deep meaning and quality entertainment value.

This film makes me ponder the question, will there be more movies like this to come from China? I certainly hope so!

May need to see it twice, unless you know Chinese. Worth seeing again for the combat scenes.

[bghilliotti · 7/10 · 7 March 2018]

Some of the best cinemagraphic depiction of combat that I have seen. The movie was in Chinese, making it more realistic; however, the English subtitles were presented very quickly and it was hard to follow the story. The intense action of the film tended to distract you from effectively reading the subtitles. Brian Ghilliotti

The Futility of war

[captloucostello · 10/10 · 19 February 2010]

and the misery that comes to those who are caught up in it is brought to frightening reality on the big screen in this masterfully filmed effort by Feng Xiaogang. The story of a Chinese regiment fighting against the Nationalists in the brutal civil war manages to tug at almost every human emotion. The protagonist officer who leads his men in a savage last stand is perfectly portrayed. The scenes of warfare in this movie are very well done and manage to do so without demonizing the enemy as in so many war films. For those of you who know such things, and there are many, the range of weaponry used in this film spans the the entire history of modern warfare for the Chinese from the 1920's on through the war in Korea and adds greatly to the intense realism of the film. Watch for the scene in which the Captain sees what has become of the old helmets once used by the soldiers.

The main character, Captain Gu Zidi, superbly played by Zhang Hanyu, cannot give up the memory of his lost men and never ceases in his struggle to have their memory honored. The portrayal of this struggle by this one man gives this film everything thing it needs for great drama. This work has a far stronger story than "Saving Private Ryan" and in modern cinema can only be rivaled by South Korea's "Tae Guk Gi". This is not only a great war film but is one of the very best films of any kind I have been privileged to see in recent years.

"Trade In Your Weapons For Chopsticks!"

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 25 September 2013]

A little long, but not at all bad. If you liked "Saving Private Ryan," you should like "Assembly." The director, Xiaogang Feng, has not only imitated Stephen Spielberg, he's transcended him.

First of all, a viewer is going to notice the exquisite pictorialism of the titles. They're really tasteful. And the arresting quality of the images -- the composition and color -- is carried through the film itself. A finely tuned visual pageant.

The story is a bit drawn out but so much of the material is unfamiliar to the West that it's acceptable. The protagonist is a soldier in the Chinese communist army, Hanyu Zhang. We're treated to battle scenes during the war with Chiang Kai-Shek's nationalists after World War II.

Hanyu is in charge of a detachment ordered to hold a position at a mine until he hears "Assembly" played on the headquarters bugle. Nobody hears the bugle call and all of Hanyu's troops die except him. He's wounded and dazed, wearing an enemy uniform, and no one at headquarters believes his story. Nevertheless, he becomes part of the Chinese army and is later half blinded during the Korean war, while in the process of saving another man's life. Three or four Americans show up on screen but they're not stereotypical villains. And when the Yanks are subject to a devastating bombardment, they're killed in extreme long shot.

Later, an old soldier now, unfit for duty, Hanyu spends his time trying to find evidence of the events at the mine in 1948. He's haunted by guilt.

Some Chinese movies have been working their way into the ken of Western movie goers over the last decade or so, pari passu with the nation's sidling its way into the global village. They're still Chincoms to the more retrograde among us, but if you want to buy Petro China you can do it on the Hong Kong market. And they're our chief foreign debtors. If we fail, they fail. Good reason to make movies about the unforgiving brutality of war and the misunderstandings that follow.

In the case of this film, that's part of the problem. Spielberg had bullets clanking off metal, terrible fighting conditions, and pointless blood-spilling. Feng has more exploding squibs -- exploding in the wrong direction -- than you can count. There's gore all over the place, along with body parts and men blown in half by explosions. It's far more graphic than "Saving Private Ryan" or "Blackhawk Down." Feng has also adopted the current directorial fad of cutting instantly during action scenes and wobbling the camera as if the photographer had imbibed too much ng ga pei. Some of the deaths are captured in slow motion. (Ho hum.) I think there's a structural problem too. I understand Hanyu loved his men and is ridden with chagrin over being responsible for their anonymous deaths, all being listed as MIA because their bodies were never recovered. And we're often reminded of it in one way or another. He and one of the soldiers' widow stand in front of the camera and there is a crane shot of a field of grave markers that seems to stretch on forever while mournful music plays on the sound track.

However, the girls are pretty, and I say keep 'em coming, China, and be as innovative and original as you were in the 20s and 30s. And ding hao!

Justice in Red-China......

[Chinesevil · 5/10 · 6 September 2021]

Shooting of the guerrilla war too long and boring, with exaggerated gray tones.