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Movies / On DVD / Devils On The Doorstep
Devils On The Doorstep

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Devils On The Doorstep (2000)

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Reviews Counted:10

Fresh:9

Rotten:1

Average Rating:6.8/10

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 2 hrs 20 mins

Genre: Foreign Films

Theatrical Release:Dec 18, 2002 Limited

Synopsis: To the average Chinese peasant, foreigners were always 'devils' -- potentially dangerous outsiders who arrived on Chinese soil with dubious motives and nefarious intent. That was especially true of... To the average Chinese peasant, foreigners were always 'devils' -- potentially dangerous outsiders who arrived on Chinese soil with dubious motives and nefarious intent. That was especially true of the Japanese soldiers who invaded China in the 1930s, first annexing Manchuria and then occupying large tracts of the mainland.Ma Dasan and his neighbours in Rack-Armour Terrace resented giving a percentage of their grain harvest to the Japanese 'devils', but otherwise co-existed with them quite peacefully.Things began to change the night when two prisoners of the anti-Japanese resistance were dumped on Ma Dasan's doorstep. One was the a Japanese soldier, the other a Chinese translator/collaborator. Ma was told to keep them hidden for a few days. But the days stretched into weeks, and the weeks stretched into months. Unwilling to keep the prisoners any longer and unable to execute them, Ma Dasan came up with the idea of retruning them to the Japanese army in exchange for two carts of grain.The outcome of his scheme taught him the hard way that 'devils' are not necessarily foreign … and that war can turn the best of men into the worst. -- © Fortissimo film [More]

Starring: Jiang Wen, Jiang Hongbo, Kagawa Teruyuki, Yuan Ding

Starring: Jiang Wen, Jiang Hongbo, Kagawa Teruyuki, Yuan Ding, Cong Zhijun

Director: Jiang Wen

Director: Jiang Wen
Screenwriter: Jiang Wen, You Fengwei, Shi Jianquan, Shu Ping
Studio: Cowboy Pictures

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Release:

Apr 19, 2005

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Reviews for Devils On The Doorstep

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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/26/09
Derek Elley
Derek Elley
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/26/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
08/21/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

The tonal shifts are jolting, and though Wen’s messages are profound and thoughtfully delivered, more thorough transitions would have made the film more cohesive.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
02/07/03
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

Undeniably impressive.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
01/04/03
Par Parekh
Par Parekh
Film Journal International

The farcical elements seemed too pat and familiar to hold my interest, yet its diverting grim message is a good one.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
01/02/03
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Rich in shadowy metaphor and as sharp as a samurai sword, Jiang Wen's Devils on the Doorstep is a wartime farce in the alternately comic and gut-wrenching style of Joseph Heller or Kurt Vonnegut.

Full Review Source: Premiere Magazine | comment Comment
12/20/02
Joe McGovern
Joe McGovern
Premiere Magazine

This boisterous comedy serves up a cruel reminder of the fate of hundreds of thousands of Chinese, one which can only qualify as a terrible tragedy.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
12/18/02
Ken Fox
Ken Fox
TV Guide's Movie Guide

In its dry and forceful way, it delivers the same message as Jiri Menzel's Closely Watched Trains and Danis Tanovic's No Man's Land.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
12/18/02
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A wild ride that effortlessly combines devilish dark humor, slapstick comedy, extreme violence and bitter satire.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
12/18/02
V.A. Musetto
V.A. Musetto
New York Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Shot in rich, shadowy black-and-white, Devils chronicles, with increasingly amused irony, the relationship between reluctant captors and befuddled captives.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
12/17/02
Dennis Lim
Dennis Lim
Village Voice
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There's a gem of an idea lurking inside this movie, but the film is burdened with an overwrought and static first hour and wild tonal fluctuation.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
08/08/02
Hollywood Reporter
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