Based on a true story Assembly follows one man's journey in search of truth and honour. The Huaihai Campaign of the Chinese Civil War broke out in the winter of 1948 and became one of the bloodiest battles in Chinese history. Thousands from The People's Liberation Army and the KMT Army fought in a bloodbath in between Xuzhou and Bengbu. Captain Guzidi commanding the Ninth Company led the infantry unit which consisted of a mere 46 men on a sniping mission to defend the south bank of the Wen River. His orders were to fight until the retreat assembly call was charged.... After long hours of defence ammunition was running out and the number of men standing in the Ninth Company was quickly decreasing. Everyone began to wonder if they had missed the retreat bugle call. But Guzidi insisted that the bugle had not sounded and that they were to continue to battle at all costs. It was not until later when he found that all the neighbouring troops had already left the field that he realised he might have made a mistake and contributed to his men's deaths. Guzidi woke up in the hospital and discovered that due to a military re-organisation he and the 46 men who sacrificed themselves during the deadly engagement had lost their identities and ranks and were deemed missing. Determined to prove the existence of the 46 men and honour their glorious deaths Guzidi embarks on his journey to search for his troops... [show more]
"Assembly" has been discussed as the Chinese "Saving Private Ryan". It does share similarities with that film, though it is missing the spectacular opening, which, for me, was the only great thing about "Saving..." What it shares are what I imagine to be fairly realistic battle scenes, and heroic struggle(s). The first struggle in "Assembly" is not as silly as that in its USA counterpart - a regiment is sacrificed for the battalion rather than a group of men for a single man and the sentimentality surrounding him. Then the one survivor struggles to have that regiment recognised as heroes (rather than being ignored by the authorities). This takes him from the Chinese Civil War to the Korean War and back again, thus the struggle achieves something of the epic scale of "Saving..." However, pleasing as all this may be, it still seems like fairly standard war film fare - it does what you expect it to do. It does do this well: the acting is good, the art direction interesting (the almost black and white image at the beginning of the film gradually gains colour as the film and years unfold), and the special effects are not gratuitous and do not detract from the human elements of the film. (I found some of the out of battle, out of dialogue sequences particularly interesting.) Where the film becomes more interesting than your average well made war film, is in the delivery of its message. It is essentially an anti-war film, critical of the revolutionary government"s initial failure to recognise the little men who were sacrificed to make its creation possible. However, it achieves this in, not only the guise of, but, I believe, an actually pro-Communist Party of China film - the fallen soldiers are, ultimately, recognised and posthumously awarded medals for bravery. Therefore, "Assembly" is blessed with a rare and interesting balance, which is not unsettled by over-bearing sentimentality, but which is engaging. Rather than stuffing rhetoric into your pupils and ears, "Assembly" is a war film that allows you to think about what you see and hear. For that reason I recommend "Assembly" to anyone who likes to both enjoy and think about their films.
We will publish your review of Assembly on DVD within a few days as long as it meets our guidelines.
None of your personal details will be passed on to any other third party.
This site uses cookies.
More details in our privacy policy
