[jyl]

this is a super interesting movie because the Chinese soldiers are Kuomingtang, the Nationalist government that was later defeated by the Communists, but remains in power in Taiwan. I think it is very unusual for the Chinese censors to permit portraying Kuomingtang as heroes.

Trivia: my grandfather on mom’s side was a Senator in the Kuomingtang government. When the Communists took over, my mom’s family was evacuated to Taiwan in style, as part of the government relocation, taking their money and positions and titles. Granddad, who died when I was very little, remained a Senator for life in Taiwan. When he died, his second eldest son inherited the family property and money. Not his eldest son, who was an officer in the Kuomingtang army and stayed in China to fight the Communists, where he was killed in battle. That was around 1949 ish I think. About fifty years later, in the late 1990s I recall, our family was contacted by the Red Cross who said your brother is trying to reach you. The eldest son, my uncle, had actually been captured by the Communists in battle, and imprisoned in a reeducation camp for five decades. When he was very old, they decided he was no longer a threat and released him onto the streets. My family brought him to Taiwan but he couldn’t adapt. The world he knew was gone and he was too old to cope with the new world. They got him a little apartment in Beijing where he lived for a few more years until he died.