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Back to 1942

November 26, 2023

Back to 1942 is a 2012 Chinese historical film directed by Feng Xiaogang.[2] It is based on Liu Zhenyun's novel Remembering 1942, and is about a major famine in Henan, China, during the Second Sino-Japanese War. On 11 November 2012, the film premiered at the International Rome Film Festival.[3] The film was selected as the Chinese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards,[4] but was not nominated.

Back to 1942
Film poster
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese一九四二
Simplified Chinese一九四二
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinYī Jǐu Sì Èr
Directed byFeng Xiaogang
Written byLiu Zhenyun
Produced by
StarringZhang Guoli
Chen Daoming
Li Xuejian
Zhang Hanyu
Fan Wei
Feng Yuanzheng
Xu Fan
Tim Robbins
Adrien Brody
CinematographyLü Yue
Edited byXiao Yang
Music byZhao Jiping
Production
company
Release date
  • 29 November 2012 (2012-11-29)
Running time
146 minutes
CountryChina
LanguagesMandarin, English, Japanese
Budget¥210 million
Box office¥364 million[1]

Plot edit

The film is set in Henan, China in the winter of 1942, during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Master Fan is a wealthy landlord in a village in Henan. When the village is suffering from famine, Fan still has plenty of food to feed his family and the villagers. A group of bandits come and rob the village, eventually burning it down to the ground. Fan's son dies in the process of stopping the bandits.

Fan flees his hometown with his daughter, wife and daughter-in-law. They are accompanied by a servant, Shuanzhu. While they are fleeing to the west, they meet Xialu, a fellow villager, and the latter's family. They decide to travel together, but Fan's food supply and money are stolen by NRA soldiers amidst the chaos caused by Japanese bombing.

Brother Sim insists on preaching the Catholic faith in the starving province. After surviving a few Japanese bombings and witnessing many innocent people dying, he takes refuge under Father Megan but starts doubting the presence of God.

Meanwhile, Time correspondent Theodore H. White treks to Henan to investigate the famine. He discovers that while people are dying every day and some have even resorted to cannibalism, the Nationalist Government is still not doing anything to help the refugees. Chiang Kai-shek even wants to give up defending Henan, leaving the refugees to the Japanese. White's report is eventually published in the magazine, causing the Nationalist Government to make a U-turn on their policy. However, when relief supplies are being distributed in the province, the local officials and soldiers start fighting over who should receive a larger share.

The plight of Master Fan continues as his family members die one by one. He is eventually forced to sell his daughter into prostitution in return for food. Losing hope on life, he heads back to the east in the hope of dying somewhere near his home. On his way back, he meets a little girl who has just lost her mother. He adopts the girl as his granddaughter and they continue their journey.

Cast edit

Alec Su's scenes as T. V. Soong were deleted in the final cut of the film.[5]

Reception edit

Back to 1942 received mixed reviews. It has a 40% approval rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 10 reviews with an average rating of 5.2/10.[6] Metacritic gave the film a score of 41/100 based on six reviews.[7]

Xan Brooks of The Guardian wrote:

Back to 1942 ... gives us history written in banner headlines and trumpeted by bugles. If it could bring itself to quieten down, it might be more successful.[8]

Dan Fainaru of Screen Daily wrote:

An imposing, technically sophisticated achievement, Back To 1942 (Yi Jiu Si Er) covers a lot of ground and deals with a large cast of characters, but somehow, as if to confirm the old saying that one man dying is a tragedy but a million deaths is a statistic figure, it is rather the size of his film and the dexterity that went into its making which will affect Western audiences more than its contents.[9]

Giovanni Vimercati of the China Internet Information Center wrote:

Compared to your average CGI-inflated blockbuster, "Back to 1942" scores in its meticulous attention to detail — everything from costumes to make-up do not shy away from displaying its generous budget. However, despite investing considerable creative energy and capital in the representation of hunger and deprivation, the film fails to convey human suffering on an emotional level. It will be very interesting to see how the film performs on American screens since hunger, in Hollywood as well as in modern China, is a taboo almost on a par with sex.[10]

Daniel Eagan of Film Journal wrote:

Clearly a huge undertaking, the film is a relatively even-handed account of a famine which killed three million people. But the storytelling in Back to 1942 is so careful that it fails to build much interest or emotion.[11]

Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times wrote:

The film uses all the techniques familiar from other depictions of mass migration and suffering to try to bring the catastrophe down to a graspable scale, but it’s not terribly effective at humanizing its characters. It catalogs agony without making you feel it.[12]

Awards edit

The film won the A.I.C. Award for Best Cinematography during its premiere at the International Rome Film Festival in November 2012, and the Golden Butterfly Award.[13]

The movie won both Best Feature Film Award and Visual Effects Award at the 13th Beijing International Film Festival in 2013.[14]

It also won the Best Film of Mainland and Taiwan at the 32nd Hong Kong Film Awards in 2013.[15]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Clarence Tsui (26 December 2012). "China's Record-Breaking 'Lost in Thailand' Prepares to Sink 'Titanic'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  2. ^ Karen Chu (17 June 2012). "Feng Xiaogang Unveils Epic 'Remembering 1942' at the Shanghai Film Festival". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  3. ^ . Asia Pacific Arts. 14 November 2012. Archived from the original on 26 August 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
  4. ^ "China Sends 'Back to 1942′ on Oscar Trail". Variety. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  5. ^ (in Chinese) 《一九四二》苏有朋戏份全删 (Alec Su's scenes in Back to 1942 were deleted) 2014-03-20 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ "Back to 1942 (2012)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  7. ^ "Back to 1942". Metacritic. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  8. ^ Brooks, Xan (11 November 2012). "Back to 1942 – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  9. ^ Fainaru, Dan (12 November 2012). "Back To 1942". Screen. Screen Daily. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  10. ^ Vimercati, Giovanni (6 December 2012). "'Back to 1942' portrays famine with a lavish budget". China.org.cn. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  11. ^ Eagan, Daniel (30 November 2012). . Film Journal. Archived from the original on 4 December 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  12. ^ Genzlinger, Neil (2012), "War and Famine Meet in a Chinese Province in the '40s", The New York Times, retrieved 25 November 2021
  13. ^ "Feng Xiaogang's '1942' wins 2 awards in Rome". China.org.cn. 20 November 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  14. ^ Tsui, Clarence (2013-04-23). "'Back to 1942' Wins Top Prize at Beijing Film Festival". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2021-11-25.
  15. ^ "32nd Hong Kong Film Awards 2013". HK Neo Reviews. Retrieved 14 April 2013.

External links edit

  • Back to 1942 at IMDb

November 26, 2023
back, 1942, 2012, chinese, historical, film, directed, feng, xiaogang, based, zhenyun, novel, remembering, 1942, about, major, famine, henan, china, during, second, sino, japanese, november, 2012, film, premiered, international, rome, film, festival, film, sel. Back to 1942 is a 2012 Chinese historical film directed by Feng Xiaogang 2 It is based on Liu Zhenyun s novel Remembering 1942 and is about a major famine in Henan China during the Second Sino Japanese War On 11 November 2012 the film premiered at the International Rome Film Festival 3 The film was selected as the Chinese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards 4 but was not nominated Back to 1942Film posterChinese nameTraditional Chinese一九四二Simplified Chinese一九四二TranscriptionsStandard MandarinHanyu PinyinYi Jǐu Si ErDirected byFeng XiaogangWritten byLiu ZhenyunProduced byWang Zhongjun Han Sanping Liu Guangquan Albert Yeung Peter Lam Song Dai Wang Tongyuan Zhang Suzhou Ouyang Changlin Qiu Xin Wang Xiaodong Wang YiyangStarringZhang GuoliChen DaomingLi XuejianZhang HanyuFan WeiFeng YuanzhengXu FanTim RobbinsAdrien BrodyCinematographyLu YueEdited byXiao YangMusic byZhao JipingProductioncompanyHuayi BrothersRelease date29 November 2012 2012 11 29 Running time146 minutesCountryChinaLanguagesMandarin English JapaneseBudget 210 millionBox office 364 million 1 Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Reception 4 Awards 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksPlot editThe film is set in Henan China in the winter of 1942 during the Second Sino Japanese War Master Fan is a wealthy landlord in a village in Henan When the village is suffering from famine Fan still has plenty of food to feed his family and the villagers A group of bandits come and rob the village eventually burning it down to the ground Fan s son dies in the process of stopping the bandits Fan flees his hometown with his daughter wife and daughter in law They are accompanied by a servant Shuanzhu While they are fleeing to the west they meet Xialu a fellow villager and the latter s family They decide to travel together but Fan s food supply and money are stolen by NRA soldiers amidst the chaos caused by Japanese bombing Brother Sim insists on preaching the Catholic faith in the starving province After surviving a few Japanese bombings and witnessing many innocent people dying he takes refuge under Father Megan but starts doubting the presence of God Meanwhile Time correspondent Theodore H White treks to Henan to investigate the famine He discovers that while people are dying every day and some have even resorted to cannibalism the Nationalist Government is still not doing anything to help the refugees Chiang Kai shek even wants to give up defending Henan leaving the refugees to the Japanese White s report is eventually published in the magazine causing the Nationalist Government to make a U turn on their policy However when relief supplies are being distributed in the province the local officials and soldiers start fighting over who should receive a larger share The plight of Master Fan continues as his family members die one by one He is eventually forced to sell his daughter into prostitution in return for food Losing hope on life he heads back to the east in the hope of dying somewhere near his home On his way back he meets a little girl who has just lost her mother He adopts the girl as his granddaughter and they continue their journey Cast editZhang Guoli as Master Fan Chen Daoming as Chiang Kai shek Li Xuejian as Li Peiji Zhang Hanyu as Brother Sim Fan Wei as Ma Feng Yuanzheng as Xialu Xu Fan as Huazhi Tim Robbins as Bishop Megan Adrien Brody as Theodore H White Yao Jingyi as Lingdang Peng Jiale as Liubao Li Qian as Master Fan s daughter in law Yuan Huifang as Master Fan s wife Zhang Shaohua as Xialu s mother Wang Ziwen as Master Fan s daughter Xingxing Zhang Mo as Shuanzhu Zhao Yi as Master Fan s son Zhang Shu as Dong Jiayao Tian Xiaojie as middle aged officer Ke Lan as Soong Mei ling Zhang Guoqiang as Dong Yingbin Yu Zhen as Jiang Dingwen Chang Chen kuang as Zhang Lisheng Lin Yongjian as County Magistrate Yue Duan Yihong as Chen Bulei Peter Noel Duhamel as Joseph Stilwell James A Beattle as Clarence E Gauss Luo Yang as Soong Ching ling Qiao Zhenyu as Secretary Han Li Xiaozhou as Sun Ciwei Zhang Jie as Li Peiji s secretary Nathaniel Boyd as American embassy translator Chen Yusheng as Fang Ce Hao Jianmin as Zhang Guangyu Yu Genyi as Lu Daping Zhang Dongsheng as Luo Zhen Jiang Yanming as Luo Wu Zhang Zhijian as Zhang Fang Lu Zhong as Zhang Fang s mother Jie Bing as Li Fukuan Yasuyuki Hirata as Yasuji Okamura Kenichi Miura as Jirou Takahashi Alec Su s scenes as T V Soong were deleted in the final cut of the film 5 Reception editBack to 1942 received mixed reviews It has a 40 approval rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes based on 10 reviews with an average rating of 5 2 10 6 Metacritic gave the film a score of 41 100 based on six reviews 7 Xan Brooks of The Guardian wrote Back to 1942 gives us history written in banner headlines and trumpeted by bugles If it could bring itself to quieten down it might be more successful 8 Dan Fainaru of Screen Daily wrote An imposing technically sophisticated achievement Back To 1942 Yi Jiu Si Er covers a lot of ground and deals with a large cast of characters but somehow as if to confirm the old saying that one man dying is a tragedy but a million deaths is a statistic figure it is rather the size of his film and the dexterity that went into its making which will affect Western audiences more than its contents 9 Giovanni Vimercati of the China Internet Information Center wrote Compared to your average CGI inflated blockbuster Back to 1942 scores in its meticulous attention to detail everything from costumes to make up do not shy away from displaying its generous budget However despite investing considerable creative energy and capital in the representation of hunger and deprivation the film fails to convey human suffering on an emotional level It will be very interesting to see how the film performs on American screens since hunger in Hollywood as well as in modern China is a taboo almost on a par with sex 10 Daniel Eagan of Film Journal wrote Clearly a huge undertaking the film is a relatively even handed account of a famine which killed three million people But the storytelling in Back to 1942 is so careful that it fails to build much interest or emotion 11 Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times wrote The film uses all the techniques familiar from other depictions of mass migration and suffering to try to bring the catastrophe down to a graspable scale but it s not terribly effective at humanizing its characters It catalogs agony without making you feel it 12 Awards editThe film won the A I C Award for Best Cinematography during its premiere at the International Rome Film Festival in November 2012 and the Golden Butterfly Award 13 The movie won both Best Feature Film Award and Visual Effects Award at the 13th Beijing International Film Festival in 2013 14 It also won the Best Film of Mainland and Taiwan at the 32nd Hong Kong Film Awards in 2013 15 See also editChinese famine of 1942 43 List of Chinese submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film List of submissions to the 86th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language FilmReferences edit Clarence Tsui 26 December 2012 China s Record Breaking Lost in Thailand Prepares to Sink Titanic The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved 1 March 2013 Karen Chu 17 June 2012 Feng Xiaogang Unveils Epic Remembering 1942 at the Shanghai Film Festival The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved 7 July 2012 Feng Xiaogang s Back to 1942 premiered at Rome Film Festival Asia Pacific Arts 14 November 2012 Archived from the original on 26 August 2017 Retrieved 17 November 2012 China Sends Back to 1942 on Oscar Trail Variety Retrieved 8 September 2013 in Chinese 一九四二 苏有朋戏份全删 Alec Su s scenes in Back to 1942 were deleted Archived 2014 03 20 at the Wayback Machine Back to 1942 2012 Rotten Tomatoes Retrieved 14 March 2013 Back to 1942 Metacritic Retrieved 14 March 2013 Brooks Xan 11 November 2012 Back to 1942 review The Guardian Retrieved 14 March 2013 Fainaru Dan 12 November 2012 Back To 1942 Screen Screen Daily Retrieved 14 March 2013 Vimercati Giovanni 6 December 2012 Back to 1942 portrays famine with a lavish budget China org cn Retrieved 14 March 2013 Eagan Daniel 30 November 2012 Film Review Back to 1942 Film Journal Archived from the original on 4 December 2012 Retrieved 14 March 2013 Genzlinger Neil 2012 War and Famine Meet in a Chinese Province in the 40s The New York Times retrieved 25 November 2021 Feng Xiaogang s 1942 wins 2 awards in Rome China org cn 20 November 2012 Retrieved 14 April 2013 Tsui Clarence 2013 04 23 Back to 1942 Wins Top Prize at Beijing Film Festival The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved 2021 11 25 32nd Hong Kong Film Awards 2013 HK Neo Reviews Retrieved 14 April 2013 External links editBack to 1942 at IMDb Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Back to 1942 amp oldid 1134976149, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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