A few photos taken on the set of Feng Xiaogang's war story The Assembly have popped up on the net. They were taken by an extra hired to play a wounded soldier at a POW hospital. This US$10 million war epic is Chinese director Feng Xiaogang's first project after his less successful The Banquet.
Story of short novel The Law Suit the movie is based on is: In the bloody Chinese civil war (1946-1949) between the communist-led Liberation Army and the Nationalist troops, Gu, leader of A Company was asked by the battalion leader to command his men to stop the enemy attack in order to allow the rest of the battalion to retreat.
He was told that they would be able to pullback once the assembly call comes. But the call never came and everyone from the company died except Gu. Years later, Gu starts searching for the truth to prove his men died like real heroes. He learns that the battalion leader never ordered an assembly call because he decided to sacrifice A Company for saving the rest of the battalion. The battalion leader has been feeling guilty until died in Korea War.
Zhang Hanyu, who played the undercover cop in Feng Xiaogang's A World without Thieves, plays Gu the Company leader. After surviving the battle, he put on the nationalist uniform to search for food but is captured by his own troop and sent to a POW hospital.
(Agencies via CRI November 1, 2006)
