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Back to 1942

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Back to 1942

In 1942, Henan Province was devastated by the most tragic famine in modern Chinese history, resulting in the deaths of at least three million men, women and children. Although the primary cause of the famine was a severe drought, it was exacerbated by locusts, windstorms, earthquakes, epidemic disease and the corruption of the ruling Kuomintang government.

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Release : 2012
Rating : 6.9
Studio : JCE Movies,  Huayi Brothers Pictures,  Media Asia Films, 
Crew : Production Design,  Camera Operator, 
Cast : Zhang Guoli Xu Fan Zhang Mo Zhang Hanyu Chen Daoming
Genre : Drama War

Cast List

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Reviews

Evengyny
2018/08/30

Thanks for the memories!

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Nonureva
2018/08/30

Really Surprised!

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ReaderKenka
2018/08/30

Let's be realistic.

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Jakoba
2018/08/30

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

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gbmillion
2013/08/25

This is a profound story, beautifully told, interweaving the plight of a family of famine refugees with a depiction of the Chinese leaders and the difficult decisions they were faced with as the Japanese army closed in on Henan province in 1942.The plot develops in a most engaging manner, depicting the suffering of famine refugees as they trek across the barren, snowy countryside in an effort to reach Shaanxi. Interspersed, we see scenes depicting Chiang Kaishek and his ministers, coolly calculating the expedience of helping the refugees. The finely tailored costumes of Chiang and his secretary contrast with the rags of the refugees. We get the impression that the Chinese leaders are detached from the plight of the ordinary people.The movie depicts the pitiful plight of the refugees without succumbing to sentimentality. The characters are stark and persuasive. Acting and direction are superb. If you are interested in this period of history this movie will not disappoint.

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ryanlee0513
2013/05/12

I chosen the film is 'Back to 1942' that is an epic film about a horrible famine of Henan province in China. Feng Xiaogang is the director of the film, and the film was released on Thursday, November 29th, 2012. Feng Xiaogang who is a famous director in China, he graduated from The National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts, and is good at directing the comedy film. However, 'Back to 1942' is a breakthrough of him again. In this film, there are not only many famous Chinese such as Zhang Guoli, Chen Daoming, Xu Fan and Zhang Hanyu, but also have two American actors namely Tim Robbins and Adrien Brody. Obviously, 'Back to 1942' is expected to have influence at the international marketplace, not just for domestic marketplace.'Back to 1942' tells the story about more than 30 million of Henan's people began a 1012 km fled in order to survive from hunger, which lasted 106 days and approximately 3 millions people died. A terrible drought and locusts lead to this horrible famine, and the war between Japan and China makes it worse. The film' plot structure is unique. There are three main story lines, the first one is that civilians fled from famine, the second one is the behavior of the Chiang Kai- shek's government, and the third one is Theodore H. White who is an American journalist reported the situation for Time magazine and his rescue operations. These three clues bonded together by tragic fate of millions of victims that made the film express a distinctive dramatic tension. The color of the film is gray, it can accurate convey the emotion of the film which is people suffering in famine and death. Indeed, the film shows that people have changed during unprecedented hunger. Specifically, sexual, physical, and even personal freedom becomes tools to exchange for food, and the traditional Confucian and even basic family ethics is abandoned, such as the husband sale his wife, father peddle their children and so forth. There are several plots that shock me. The first, rich property owner Fan and his family also are on the road in order to survive. However, during this period time, his daughter-in-law give birth to a child. The puerperal is very weak and no milk for child, because she did not eat anything for few days. Fan deiced to cook a cat for a soup, which is company her daughter all the way, in order to supplement nutrition for his daughter-in-law, so that the grandchildren can survive. But, his daughter Xing Xing love her cat so much, she often feeds her cat using her own food. When Fan want to explain to his daughter about cooking her cat, his daughter ask him that want to eat the cat soup. There is no any sadness in her eyes. People have been changed by extreme hunger, and the life instinct defeat all emotions. The second, during the famine time, every thing could happen, for example, a few liters of millet can buy a person. Xing Xing which is Fan's daughter, want to exchange self for millet, but Fan does not allow. She explain to her father that she cannot stand hunger, if sold her, her family not only can get some millet, but also she can live. When Xing Xing was selected, there even is a smile appearing on Fan's face that is unimaginable in the present age. Therefore, the value of millet is over the value of gold or a person in the famine time. The third, Fan takes a train with his grandson into the Shaanxi province, and others of his family's members went away or dead. Fan told to his grandson, "There are only us". However, he found that his grandson was already dead. He feels helpless and hopelessness. Hence, he made a decision that came back to Henan and he already does not think about how to live, he just want to die closer to home. These plot express the despair of losing all family members that give me a big shock, because he already lose the life instinct when he lose his family and he even does not affair the death anymore. To sum up, I think 'Back to 1942' is a great movie, and it almost reflects the damage caused by the famine. It also makes me to think about what is the most important things when people face the disaster.

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Mozjoukine
2012/12/07

Feng Xioagang can be considered China's - possibly Asia's - most substantial film maker. His output is increasingly imposing and his box office clout means that the content of his work must come under intense official scrutiny. That made the IF I WERE THE ONE movies quite amazing as an expression of the notion that to be rich is glorious.BACK TO 1942 is clearly a tent pole movie for the Chinese cinema and then carries a double load. It is an intense, long, demanding account of the 1942 Hunan famine and refugee exodus, made more terrible by the parallel war with the Japanese and also a revision of history with Chiang Kai Shek now shown as both calculating and remote, as well as caring and authoritative but only a support player in the story of the land lord and serf reduced to destitution on their awful journey.Intriguingly, Theodore White writer of sixties Wolper Documentaries and "The Mountain Road" shows up effectively in the person of Adrian Brody, as a character.Master crafted, some of the staging is exceptional. The bombing raids are great set pieces and the film manages to keep disaster chic in hand, even if it's so grim.Essential for the serious movie goer, a strain on the casual entertainment seeker.

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monica tran
2012/12/04

This movie is excellent if you are wanting to learn more about the history of China (war and famine) but not so good if you simply want to view it for leisure. The whole film has no plot in particular. It only focuses on simply aspects like death, find food, starvation, killing etc. There are various disturbing scenes and lots of death scenes. If you can't understand fluent Chinese, I wouldn't suggest you view it. The language spoken is Chinese but with a unfamiliar accent/dialect. The subtitles may be hard to follow. the movie is actually pretty long but it doesn't have any plot. Overall, I didn't enjoy watching this movie,half of the time I was covering my eyes and ears. Too much battling and no interesting plot.

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