There are so many displaced people here… Yeah, that's exactly what you're going to see in the first trailer for the upcoming war drama Back To 1942. Chinese director Feng Xiangong is here to show us the real human drama set in time when China was already at war and partially occupied by Japan. And what's definitely great about the project is that two Academy Award winners star in the whole thing – Adrien Brody and Tim Robbins. Give them a try, check out the rest of this report for more details!
Back To 1942 is based on a novel written by Liu Zhenyun which chronicles the deadly 1942 drought in China's Henan province during the war against Japan. 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.
[jwplayer mediaid=”123378″]
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. At night, hundreds of famished farmers descend with sickles and torches on the household of Landlord Fan in North Henan province.
He holds the final stocks of grain in Laozhuang Village. Afraid of the angry mob, Fan prepares a banquet for them in his own home. But old feuds break out and his property is burnt to the ground in an accidental fire. Meanwhile, war is about to break out between Japanese troops and Nationalist forces in North Henan.
[jwplayer mediaid=”123382″]
The province's full supply of grain is to be diverted to the Chinese troops. Realising the danger, provincial chairman Li Peiji pays a visit to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek in Chongqing, but doesn't have the courage to speak up.
[jwplayer mediaid=”123384″]
Beside Brody and Robbins, Back To 1942 also stars Chen Daoming, Li Xuejian and Zhang Guoli.
Xiangong's movie will screen in competition at the upcoming International Rome Film Festival which gets underway Friday and runs through November 17th.
