My memories of the last round of Sino-Russian co-productions are still stuck in 1995's "Red Cherry", which is not only the spiritual impact of the fascist eagle emblem on Chuchu's back, but also the vision of international war that opened up, and I had an indelible mark on my adolescence. At that time, it was the 50th anniversary of the victory of anti-fascism, and it was unknown whether there would be a Sino-Russian co-production in the next 20 years, at least it did not enter my field of vision, and then it was the "Ballet in the Fire of War" that took place in this time.
Similar to "Red Cherry", "Ballet in the Fire of War" is also a Sino-Russian co-production set against the background of anti-fascism, and the film also tells the humble life in the war from a Transnational perspective between China and Russia, accusing fascism crimes at the same time, there is no lack of brilliance of humanity in the ashes. Director Dong Yachun is known for his war films, and his works such as "Love in the Midst of War", "Zhou Enlai in Chongqing", and "China Expeditionary Force" are all from a pure war perspective, of which "China Expeditionary Force" also won the Feitian Award for Outstanding Director. In addition, "Ballet in War" and "Russian Spielberg" known as the Russian director Nikita Mikhalkov as the director of the system, his "Love Slave", "An Unfinished Mechanical Piano Song", "A Few Days of Life" is well-known all over the world, but for Chinese audiences, it may be the remake of the classic "12 Angry Men" is the most familiar.
The film is set in a brutal war between China, Russia and Japan that took place in the northeast on September 12, 1945, on the blood-washed black land, where Chinese girls are looking for her Russian lover, Russian mothers are looking for his son, Japanese orphans are looking for his father, Chinese wives are looking for her husband, and in front of their eyes, corpses are strewn across the field and scorched earth. Because the battle took place 28 days after Japan announced its surrender, the battle was called the "last stop" in the black land of the War of Resistance Against Japan.
According to the laws of war, at this time the Japanese emperor has announced his surrender, and everyone in the "last war" can survive - although the goose family has lost his brother, the goose father has lost his best friend, but at least their family of three has been saved, and the mother and son of Andrei who have been separated by the war have also been reunited, and the two unfortunate families can even marry together because of the war, giving birth to the crystallization of beautiful love, and the Japanese orphan who applied for the examination who played soy sauce can also be repatriated with the father of the prisoner of war - but it backfired. The recalcitrant Japanese officers shattered their hopes for "aftermath and the rest of their lives." Among the many deaths, what impressed me the most was not the awe-inspiring righteousness of the train driver, nor the bravery and fearlessness of Andrei's party, but the japanese soldier who could not help but rejoice in his heart when he learned that the Japanese emperor had announced his surrender, and when he thought he could finally go home, he was stabbed to death by the cold-blooded commander. A war machine that is ruthless to his own people, I don't think he still has humanity.
For this cold and final "final battle", the film spent more than an hour as a background. The story borrows a northeastern girl named Goose er, who coldly watches the last time when the Japanese Kou occupied a corner of the northeast. On the one hand, the Japanese under the muzzle of the gun are like grass and mustard, and they may die every second, on the other hand, the Japanese are like grasshoppers after autumn, crazy enough to not let go of even teenage children - goose's brother only used a flying knife to shoot down the hanging corpse, which was considered to be the message of resistance, and was ruthlessly killed by Japanese officers. Some people say that the love line between goose and Andre is a bright color in the film, I don't think so, the goose and his family's risk of death to save Andrei is just a simple Chinese nature, just like the goose's mother finally adopted a Japanese orphan with virtue, and the love between goose and Andre is just a seed of hope, and these films spend a huge amount of time carefully outlining beautiful visions, which the director finally uses to destroy.
The title of the film is "Ballet in the Fire", the geese dance under the rendering of Andre's mother, the red dance skirt or with the dipped birch forest, the white dance skirt and the white snow, the picture is beautiful, like an oil painting. The director tried to use the symbols of dance to fight the war, but compared to the tattoo symbols in "Red Cherry", there was a gap in the sense of fusion and penetration. Personally, I think that the film may be more ideal if it focuses on the "last battle" and uses it to explore the evil and good in war.