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Devils on the Doorstep (2000)

Director: Jiang Wen

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From Time Out Film Guide

Jiang's second film as director echoes the structure of Red Sorghum, the film which launched him as a star: a broadly comic story of peasant cowardice, heroism and rivalry is abruptly curtailed by a Japanese army massacre. Devils, though, adds a smart, sardonic coda. Set in 1944/45, on the eve of Japan's defeat, it centres on a North China villager (Jiang) who is dismayed to have foisted on him two prisoners: a Japanese soldier and a Chinese collaborator. The resistance never turns up to reclaim them and he eventually hits on the idea of ransoming them back to the local Japanese garrison. Framed as a gallery of human weaknesses, the film darkens its tone to suggest that fear and paranoia can make anyone capable of being a 'devil'. This sprawling version won a major prize in Cannes; a shorter export cut is promised.

Author: TR 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide

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User reviews of this film

  • jamie brown said...
    Posted on Apr 01 2008 12:03 stick with it , for an ending that hits like a sledgehammer.
    Report as inappropriate

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Cast & crew

Director: Jiang Wen

Producer: Jiang Wen, Dong Ping, Zheng Quangang

Cast: Jiang Wen, Jiang Hongbo, Teruyuki Kagawa, Yuan Ding, Chen Qiang, Cong Zhijun full cast

Genre(s): Comedy

Duration: 162 mins


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