This
is quite the rarity: a Chinese film celebrating the valor of their nation’s
military. It is particular unusual, because it casts the Imperial Japanese as
the bad guys, thereby potentially fostering a national sense of resentment—something
the cultural commissars are ever so scrupulous to discourage. No, not really.
At least this time around they reveal their secret weapon: notoginseng. It
healing powers are desperately needed at the front, so a crack squad from the
Yunnan Army will ensure its safe delivery, with a little help from the
you-know-who in Zhang Xiniwu’s A Roar of
Wolf Troops (trailer
here), which screens during the 2018 Winter Film Awards in New York.
The
Yunnan Army largely consisted of the ethnic Zhuang minority, who take pride in
the martial arts and military heritage. Their specialty is fighting the
Japanese and only the Japanese. Of course, the Nationalists and Communists are
also busy fighting each other. Unfortunately, the Yunnan Army was not so good
at keeping intel secret, because all interested parties will converge on the
shipment.
Nong
San and his men are riding shotgun, but he gets some unexpected help from the
local CP cell leader and a team of behind-the-lines Zhuang resistance fighters,
led by his fiancée, Lu Xiaomei. However, before the Japanese forces have a
chance to swoop down on them, a group of bandits steals the cargo using sneaky
but non-lethal tactics. Fighting and scheming ensues, but there is a distinct
honor gap between the Yunnan soldiers and their Japanese rivals.
The
frequency with which Mainland China’s sanctioned media relives and relitigates
the Second World War is becoming almost comical in its kneejerk obsessiveness.
Nevertheless, the world war has inspired many, many entertaining films, including
a good number of outright classics. Roar can’t
compare with any of them, but it is likably plucky, in an earnest, B-level
budget kind of way.
As
Nong San, Mo Tse definitely has the action chops, but he is constantly upstaged
dramatically by Xiao Dong Me’s Lu. She is all kinds of fierce, showing off
plenty of her own skills. Yet, there is something about Yi Ling playing Lu’s
mute sister Azi that draws the eye and commands the screen. She obviously has
no dialogue, but she is quite intense and expresses much. Of course, the
interchangeable Japanese heavies could have wandered in from any number of previous
films, while the mostly absent Nationalists probably get off easy.
Roar is a tad bit more
eccentric than most Chinese war films, which is a plus. After all, it is
something of an ode to holistic Chinese medicine. Zhang keeps it moving along
nicely, so it doesn’t feel so slavishly propagandistic. It is not classic, but
fans of Chinese warfighting action movies will appreciate its novelty when A Roar of Wolf Troops screens tomorrow
(2/25) at the Cinema Village, as part of this year’s Winter Film Awards.