The Assembly

[Banefull]

From time to time I enjoy watching a good war film. From Band of Brothers to older classics such as All quiet on the Western Front I enjoy a wide variety. Recently, someone recommended a movie called Assembly to me. I checked it out on youtube and watched a good portion of the film there and I all I have to say is that its absolutely amazing and brilliant!

The movie is based off of a true story, spanning two wars -- the Huaihai Campaign in the Chinese Civil War (1948) and the Chinese intervention during the Korean War (1950). The story focuses on a specific Captain named Gu Zidi, fighting for the PLA (People's Liberation Army). His platoon of over forty men is ordered to fight a rearguard action to cover a retreat. The company is ordered to hold their ground to the last man until they hear a bugle call which was never sounded. They were sacrificed. In the resulting desperate firefights, all of Gu's men are killed with the exception of Gu himself (this is a true story). Gu is later found alive but no one believes his account of what happened. Determined to prove his story, he sets out to dig up the entrance to the mine at the site of the battle where all of his dead comrades are resting.

The movie is an anti-war film. It focuses on all the horrors and senselessness of war in its battle scenes (of which there are a TON). The film is also very sad and heartbreaking. The movie even ends with

Spoiler: WARNING! FILM ENDING SPOILER 

a soldier stepping on a landmine

I cannot actually link youtube videos of the movie as its copyright material (if you want good links with English subtitles, just PM me) but I can link the official trailers.