Back to 1942 (2012)
Average Rating: 5.2/10
Reviews Counted: 10
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 6
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 4.8/10
Critic Reviews: 6
Fresh: 1 | Rotten: 5
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 424
My Rating
Movie Info
A North Henan landlord embarks on a pilgrimage to Shaanxi province during the 1942 famine, struggling to survive as war with Japan looms on the horizon. His house beset by starving villagers, Landlord Fan (Zhang Guoli) endeavors to calm the crowd by preparing a feast. But his house is burned down in the chaos, prompting Fan, his teenage daughter Xing Xing (Fiona Wang), his servant Shuang Zhu (Zhang Mo), and his tenant Hua Zhi (Xu Fan) on a treacherous journey south. Along the way, encounters
Cast
-
Zhang Guoli
Landlord Fan -
Adrien Brody
Theodore E. White -
Zhang Mo
Shuanzhu -
Fiona Wang
Xingxing -
Xu Fan
Huazhi -
Zhang Hanyu
Reverend Simeone -
Tim Robbins
Father Thomas Morgan -
Chen Daoming
Generalissimo Chiang Ka... -
Li Xuejian
Li Peiji -
Wei Fan
Old Ma -
Yuanzheng Feng
Xialu Fan's Tenant -
Li Qian
Fan's -
Zhang Shaohu
Xialu's Mother -
Yi Zhao
Fan Keqin
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All Critics (10) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (4) | Rotten (6)
"Back to 1942" shows the director's mastery of chaotic spectacle, massed human motion and elegant camera movements.
Top CriticDirector Feng Xiaogang captures the epic scale of the exodus as well as the often-harrowing details, yet emotional connection proves more elusive.
A chronicle of unrelenting misery, sorrow and human degradation that has powerful moments but is hardly uplifting.
It catalogs agony without making you feel it.
Shifting between individual suffering (performed, not felt) and extended political and business deliberations, the pic displays its budget but not its heart.
There is surprisingly little emotional resonance with the well-drawn and acted characters, making it a tiring two and a half hour trek for filmgoers who don't have a stake in the history it recounts.
A relatively even-handed account of a famine which killed three million people, but the storytelling is so careful that it fails to build much interest or emotion.
Disaster movie and war movie in one dramatic realisation of a dark chapter in China's history, Back to 1942 is epic in its intentions and its scope
The resulting, highly uneven film excels at dramatic set pieces, but stumbles in the sections that link them together.
Chinese epic illuminates a dark chapter in its WWII history
Audience Reviews for Back to 1942
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November 29, 2012:
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A tragic story of a North Henan landlord who embarks on a long journey to Shaanxi province to escape the 1942 famine, and trying to survive as war with Japan is becoming a reality, was very difficult for most of us Westerners watching it - emotionally and in any other way. I cannot find too many faults in what the director Xiaogang Feng did but in the second part the events were already a burden which was hard to carry forward. Beginning was dynamic and vibrant and I enjoyed it immensely, especially when Landlord Fan (Zhang Guoli) endeavours to calm the crowd by preparing a feast, but his house is burned down in the chaos following. Master Fan has no other choice but to join the refugees with his teenage daughter Xing Xing (Fiona Wang), his servant Shuang Zhu (Zhang Mo), and his tenant Hua Zhi (Xu Fan) on a treacherous journey south.
One of the worst moments in the Chinese history, when the Japanese government attempts to turn the Chinese people away from their government by offering them sustenance, and the Chinese government finds themselves forced to choose between feeding their troops or the masses, was presented the best possible way without offending any of the sides, but the lack of emotional maturity was very evident during the movie - maybe it was done purposely because when you are trying to survive, emotions are not always present, but for me was very odd and unexpected.
Real epic drama with masterful director, excellent acting of great actors, well developed screenplay and characters, and huge emotional vacuum!