The Eight Hundred Righteous Warriors

This film directed by Ding Shanxi follows "Heroes Last Forever" and recounts the events of August 13, 1937, when Japanese invaders attacked Shanghai. The commander of the 524th Regiment of China's 88th Division, Xie Jinyuan, led 480 young officers, known as the "800 Heroes," to defend the Sihang Warehouse for three months in order to pin down the Japanese troops and protect the withdrawal of the Chinese army. The soldiers bravely fought against the enemy, while girl scouts risked their lives to deliver food and medicine to the defenders. After the mission was accomplished, the garrison retreated across the Suzhou Bridge. The film's structure and technique are completely different from "Heroes Last Forever"; it focuses solely on the Sihang Warehouse located on the banks of the Suzhou River in an increasingly isolated Shanghai, where hundreds of Chinese soldiers engaged in positional warfare against the encircling Japanese forces. The director, based on historical facts, portrays the dramatic conflict caused by the different environments of war and peace on both sides of the Suzhou River, where the presence of foreign concessions—British and French—and the Nationalist-controlled area across the river highlights the valiant spirit of the patriotic army resisting the invaders, as well as the atmosphere of support from the Shanghai people for the Nationalist defenders. The director skillfully captures the elements of conflict, arranges various dangers, and uses montage techniques to show the Nationalist soldiers crossing the Suzhou River under heavy fire, intercutting shots of the worried civilians for a gripping scene that drives the plot to its climax. This incident was also noted in 1938...