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James Marsh

3.5/5 stars
In the wartime action drama Gezhi Town, set in a remote mountainous region of China, a group of desperate commoners and untrained soldiers band together to fend off a platoon of heavily armed Japanese forces .
By championing the heroism and sacrifices of ordinary civilians, and shifting focus away from patriotic rhetoric to intimate character dynamics, the film proves surprisingly entertaining.
The increasingly ubiquitous Peng Yuchang, who can also be seen on Hong Kong screens right now in Unexpected Family and The Fire Raven, stars as Xiao Yan, a young platoon leader in charge of a Swiss-made anti-aircraft gun.


After his entire squad is wiped out following the fall of Nanjing, he is assigned a rabble of inexperienced replacements unfamiliar with the weaponry.
Coming to Xiao’s aid is civilian machinist Mo Dexian (Xiao Zhan, Legends of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants), a refugee from Nanjing who is being evacuated with his elderly grandfather (Yang Xinming).
Initially hostile towards each other, Xiao and Dexian cross paths repeatedly during their exodus until they settle in a deserted mountaintop village they name Gezhi Town.
A few years pass, during which time Dexian starts a family with fellow evacuee Xia Cheng (Zhou Yiran), but their idyllic retreat is shattered when three Japanese soldiers, led by bilingual Sergeant Okawara (Yin Zheng), stumble upon their hideaway.

In recent years, audiences have been inundated with epics touting China’s past military achievements, but too often these dramatised history lessons – stuffed with big-name casts and bombastic battle sequences – prioritise empty spectacle at the expense of genuinely engaging storytelling.
The tide, however, appears to be turning, with an increasing number of these blockbuster showpieces striking a better balance between patriotic grandstanding and engrossing cinema.
Gezhi Town may lack the sweeping scale of The Battle at Lake Changjin or Dongji Rescue, but its emphasis on character interplay, family dynamics and carefully considered humour works in its favour.
Much of the credit goes to director Kong Sheng, whose seasoned career in television is evident in the nuanced interplay between Dexian’s noble family man, Xiao’s somewhat cowardly soldier, and even the trio of Japanese soldiers, who are portrayed as something more than merely monstrous invaders.

Enhanced by a soundtrack of stirring period folk songs, picturesque locales and a legitimately rousing climax, Gezhi Town delivers a thrilling wartime adventure that dares to entertain as much as it tugs at the heartstrings.
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Civilians try to fend off Japanese soldiers in this thrilling drama that focuses on character dynamics rather than patriotic grandstanding


Civilians try to fend off Japanese soldiers in this thrilling drama that focuses on character dynamics rather than patriotic grandstanding.


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.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Civilians try to fend off Japanese soldiers in this thrilling drama that focuses on character dynamics rather than patriotic grandstanding

Civilians try to fend off Japanese soldiers in this thrilling drama that focuses on character dynamics rather than patriotic grandstanding