In 1942, Henan Province was devastated by one of the most tragic famines in modern Chinese history, resulting in the deaths of at least three million men, women and children. Although the primary cause of the famine was a severe drought, it was exacerbated by locusts, windstorms, earthquakes, epidemic disease and the corruption of the ruling Kuomintang government.
Acting
Zhang Guoli's descent from landlord to starving refugee is devastating.
Direction
Feng Xiaogang balances epic scale with intimate family tragedy.
Production
Massive crowd scenes with horrifying historical accuracy.
Director
Feng Xiaogang
Zhang Guoli
Fan Dianyuan
Xu Fan
Hua Zhi
Zhang Mo
Shuan Zhu
Zhang Hanyu
An Ximan
Chen Daoming
Jiang Jieshi
Adrien Brody
Theodore Harold White
Tim Robbins
Bishop Megan
Wang Ziwen
Xing Xing
Fan Wei
Lao Ma
Feng Yuanzheng
Xia Lu
Alec Su
Song Ziwen
Li Xuejian
Li Peiji
Lü Zhong
Zhang Fang's Mother
Qiao Zhenyu
Secretary Han
Ke Lan
Song Meiling
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Adrien Brody learned Mandarin for the role and insisted on no dubbing, though his character historically spoke no Chinese.
The film was partially funded by government studios yet explicitly critiques KMT corruption, navigating careful political tightropes about which Chinese government can be criticized.
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