"On the Cliff" takes white as the main tone, and the whole film has been running through the scene of drifting snow, which represents both the cold winter and the prelude to the dawn of "Utra", in order to welcome the dawn, the light of faith will not be forever extinguished by darkness, and many unknown martyrs choose to die with the darkness.
The film depicts four Soviet-trained agents carrying out the Utra plan, whose responsibility is to take the "informants" out of the country in Harbin under the shroud of white terror, and to expose and accuse the Japanese army of aggression in an international court.
The agents are Zhang Xianchen and Wang Yu of the husband and wife file; Xiao Lan and Chu Liang of the lovers file. Director Zhang Yimou chose such a combination of kinship relationships, which reflects the feelings of husband and wife, the love of lovers, and the affection of parents for their children, and the effect of this arrangement is integrated into the emotional life of the general public.
The film does not show the simple fight and kill, nor does it emphasize the awe-inspiring righteousness of the national hero, but to return to the essence of human nature to tell the feelings and feelings of the revolutionaries.
This film is based on the battle of wits and courage with the enemy, the separation with comrades-in-arms, the life and death of lovers, and the estrangement from family affection. When he learned that his lover Zhang Xianchen was cruelly tortured by the enemy, Wang Yu's inner pain and struggle, the sadness and despair of his facial expression, and the water flowing in the faucet covered up the most painful feelings of the revolutionary's wife, and that moment tugged at the hearts of every audience.
Zhang Xianchen's final farewell to Zhou Yi was only to instruct Zhou Yi to save the lives of every comrade-in-arms, only he could be ignored, and the last small thing was to mention himself and Wang Yu's wandering children.
Zhang Xianchen was executed, he chose to stand and sacrifice, after the gunshot, Zhou Yi's hand that lit the cigarette was obviously shaking, and the chief of the high section stared at Zhou Yi deadly, what happened in this, there were too many mysteries in his mind that had not been solved...
He seemed to see Zhou Yi's identity clearly, but there was no conclusive and factual intelligence, and his suspicious look was a kind of danger, an elusiveness that shrouded the whole play, which made the audience keep watching with their hearts, that tension, Bai Yansong said: "The toilet can be temporarily turned off!" ”
Zhou Yi, who broke into the rear of the enemy, was tantamount to dancing on the tip of the knife every day, and he faced the trembling of his sacrificed comrades-in-arms, had hatred for the enemy, and had deep sympathy and unwillingness for comrades. It should be these enemies who will fall, not our own comrades.
The old drama bones of the film really did not disappoint. Zhang Xianchen's body spasmed when he was tortured, the swing of the will not control, the torture that life was worse than death, but the spirit of revolution hardening was as hard as steel, and the enemy brought him only pain, but his heart was destined for the victory of this mission, the liberation of all China.
The surrendered traitor Lao Xie, the trembling panic before the shooting, the weakness of the mental breakdown paralyzed in the snow, Lei Jiayin's acting skills are simply amazing, the moment of the collapse of the will, the sense of stillness of the atmosphere, like a colorful oil painting, but flowing to the most hopeless future.
In the play, Xiaolan's eyes are always as clear as a flood of water, without any impurities, and it does not look like a secret agent, but a young girl who does not understand the world, does not the purity I understand represent thousands of children in the future? They live in a country where there is no war, no panic, no oppression, clear eyes are inner peace, Xiaolan's eyes represent the future era, the current China. This is a description of great meaning and a great testimony to the future.
This is the first spy film directed by director Zhang Yimou, and the factors of the times and scenes are highly consistent. The film has both fight scenes and spy films, and the external scenes and internalized psychology and feelings are also integrated.
In the architecture of Harbin in the 1930s, rough scenes and clothing details such as vehicles, street surfaces, and clothing and dress must also be close to that era. All of this tests the director's control and the production team's mastery of history.
The snow-capped forest, the quaint and solemn central avenue, the chase gun battles of vehicles, and the external and psychological depictions of various characters are all the viewing points and highlights of "On the Cliff".
Feelings and intrigues intersect, death and surrender confront each other, enemies and comrades-in-arms are confused, and revolution and family affection strike tears, which are the source of the film's fascinating charm.
The inscription of the Monument to the People's Heroes is inscribed as follows:
In the past three years, the people's heroes who sacrificed themselves in the People's War of Liberation and the People's Revolution will never die!
Over the past thirty years, the people's heroes who sacrificed their lives in the People's Liberation War and the People's Revolution will never die!
From this point on, back to 1,840 years, in order to oppose internal and external enemies, to strive for national independence and the freedom and happiness of the people, the people's heroes who died in successive struggles will never die!
Those heroes and martyrs who wanted to get rid of foreign domination, bullying, and aggression, in order to defend their own country and defend their fathers and fellow countrymen, rose up to resist, resisted foreign aggression with their lives, and repaid the people of this land with blood. How many of these hot-blooded men left their names? Too many unsung heroes are the true creators of history.
Throwing a heart of blood, going through bitterness, sacrificing oneself to serve the country, these are the heroic souls that the country must guard for generations, this heroic soul is Zhang Xianchen, Chu Liang, huang Jiguang, Dong Cunrui, but also too many nameless heroes, there are more than 20 million heroic martyrs for this hot land born in Sri Lanka, growing up in Si, at the critical moment of national life and death, they stepped forward, generous and sad songs, they are worthy of this era, worthy of the great tradition of this nation.
Pay tribute to the heroes, pay tribute to the countless nameless heroes, and pay tribute to the heroic souls of countless former servants who are willing to repay the country with their blood and lives.