Devils on the Doorstep - a film by Jiang Wen / Home Vision Entertainment DVD Video CD 2005 / DEV 050 UPC 037429204221 Region Code: 1 Aprrox Time: 139 min. !!! Condition of CD is USED - VERY GOOD !!! Label: Home Vision Entertainment – DEV 050 Format: DVD Video Country: US Released: 2005 Genre: Style: Product Description Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and banned in its native country, Jiang Wens ravishingly photographed anti-war epic is set in 1945 in a Japanese-occupied rural Chinese village. Wen stars as Ma Dasan, a peasant, who, one night at gunpoint, is compelled to shelter two prisoners. One is a captured Japanese soldier who wants to be killed, the other his Chinese interpreter, who wants to stay alive. As the days turn into months, Ma Dasan and his fellow villagers keep their unwanted guests hidden from the Japanese forces, while deciding whether or not to execute them. The film's rich, bold cinematography is matched only by its approach to the subject matter, which, in turn, attracted the unwanted attention of the Chinese consors who ultimately banned it from Chinese screens. Special Features: * Digital transfer enhanced for 16:9 televisions * Dolby digital 5.1 audio * Introduction by Steven Soderbergh * Reprinted interview with director Jiang Wen * Original theatrical trailer
Renowned actor Jiang Wen directs this sweeping look at a small Chinese village located near the Great Wall during the closing days of WWII. As Japanese soldiers march up and down the village's main thoroughfare, Ma Dasan (Wen) is making love with his widowed lover Yu'er (Jiang Hongbo). Suddenly, there is a knock at the door and a gun at Ma's head. He is informed that for the next week he is to house two gagged and bound prisoners, one a fanatical Japanese soldier, the other a Chinese translator -- and to interrogate the pair. The village elders uneasily question the two, while the translator intentionally mistranslates the epithets and insults from the soldier. When the Chinese resistance fighters do not return to pick up the prisoners, the villagers panic and order Ma to execute them. Ma, in turn, panics and tries to hide the cantankerous duo in the Great Wall -- that is until the villagers discover his ruse and almost lynch him, despite a strongly worded defense by Yu'er. Six months later, the villagers become increasingly worried about boarding these prisoners, lest they all be branded collaborators. This film won the prestigious Grand Prix at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide.
Introduction by Steven Soderbergh, Interview, Original Theatrical Trailer.
