Zi ri

Setting is the last week of WWII in a remote corner of Japanese controlled northeast China (Manchuko). The central characters are a small group left stranded in a forest following the initial Russian attack and subsequent chaos. They must depend upon each other despite their differing nationalities (Chinese, Russian, Japanese). This dynamic is interwoven with flashbacks and a few battle scenes.

The film is straightforward, moving, and strongly anti-war. Little attempt is made to develop the main characters, yet I was still drawn to and concerned about the welfare of each of them. It's an emotionally powerful film with a surreal simplicity, flow and score.

The soldiers and civilians depicted are all totally emotionally drained by years of war, resigned to their fates, going through the motions, albeit sane or insane. Much of this is simply conveyed by the looks on their faces.

The special effects in the battle sequences are extremely poor by 2001 standards. However, since there is no attempt to convey military strategy or tactics, this does not detract from the film all that much. The net effect is to supply the necessary combat scenes without breaking the haunting flow of the film.

Note: the translations given on the English subtitles of the DVD I rented were very poor.