Assembly (124 mins, 15) Directed by Feng Xiaogang; starring Zhang Hanyu, Deng Chao, Yuen Wenkang, Tang Yang. Feng Xiaogang's Assembly is a vigorously staged war movie that has been a deserved success in China. The central character is Guzidi, a brave captain of peasant stock who has fought for the communist army against the Japanese invaders and the nationalists since 1939 and is the only survivor of a delaying action that saves a whole regiment in the last days of the Civil War in 1948. When his dead comrades receive no recognition for their sacrifice, he fights to get them a memorial. As a result, he remains in the army to be seriously injured for the second time serving with the North Korean army in 1952. Ironically, on both occasions he's wearing the enemy's uniform. This is a film that eschews triumphalism and the customary patriotic rhetoric. Its subject is friendship, respect for individuals and the quest for justice and historic truth.
