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#GezhiTownisAFilmAboutResistanceForOrdinaryPeople# #XiaoZhanPortrayedTheNationalStrengthRepresentedByMoDexian#” Recently, the movie “Gezhi Town” is being screened. Liu Yongchang, a professor at Nanjing Normal University’s School of Journalism and Communication, stated that this does not appear to be a typical war-themed film. It lacks the grand war scenes filled with smoke and the stirring legends of heroes. It tells the story of ordinary people’s resistance—a group of common folks and a team of disbanded artillery soldiers, who ultimately defeat the enemy after making tragic sacrifices. This story obviously does not have corresponding historical records, and the stage of Gezhi Town is a dramatized setting, which gives the screenwriter and director more room for creativity. There is joy amid sorrow, and sorrow amid joy; the black humor sprinkled throughout the film is not particularly 'serious,' but it feels particularly sincere because its plot is built on the foundation of real human nature.
The search for a 'path' is the most important narrative thread in “Gezhi Town.” The first half of the film depicts the survival journey of the common people as they flee westward. A passenger ship filled with refugees drifts along the Yangtze River, setting the atmosphere of destruction and loss at the start of the war. Two years later in Yichang, the people hurriedly evacuate from their homes again, coinciding with the real historical event of the Yichang evacuation. When the people finally find 'Gezhi,' this small town of refuge, they think their lives can finally be peaceful, only to have everything shattered by the random intrusion of three Japanese soldiers.
The film does not overly dramatize the difficulties, bitterness, and pain of the survival journey. Instead, it continuously fills the screen with humor, such as the diving antics of a grandfather and grandson on the passenger ship becoming a comical twist of fate, followed immediately by the arrival of the 'ordinary' young master. In the town of Gezhi, the common people can joke with each other in their idyllic lives, while soldiers can play joyfully in the clear river waters. While ordinary citizens undoubtedly find it hard to have peace in turbulent times, as long as there is a glimmer of hope or a small gap, they will create every possibility for life. Thus, the protagonist Mo Dexian’s name acts as a dual metaphor: one, the endless displacement of people during the war, and two, the unwavering 'strength of life' of this nation that has persisted for thousands of years.
The child Mo Dexian's name naturally comes from Yue Fei's 'Man Jiang Hong' line, 'Don’t wait idly, hair turning grey in youth, empty sadness,' signifying a determined struggle and an unyielding fight. In the beginning, people have been fleeing, seeking survival, and when there is truly no escape, they are forced to fight back. The narrative regarding the path of resistance in the second half of the film suddenly becomes tense, with one side representing the Japanese army's covetousness, invasion, and massacre, while the other represents the citizens defending their homeland, creating a strong contrast that fills the story with dramatic tension. The once beautiful 'Gezhi' town turns into a cruel 'Wu' town, where peace and war transition in an instant.
Gezhi Town has alleys, mountain walls, and sturdy houses; it is a complex and perilous battlefield deliberately designed. On our side, we have panicking civilians and a ragtag artillery unit, as well as the spiritual 'leader' Mo Dexian who has grown in the fires of war, and a Swiss-made Su Lu Tong cannon that survives catastrophe. On the enemy side, there are three brutal Japanese soldiers, then a tank rampaging and a team of soldiers going on a rampage. Because the structure is simple, the stage will focus; because the clues are clear, the narration will be unhurried.
The film’s combat visuals are splendid, showcasing guerrilla-style intrusions, open attacks and ambushes, soldiers and civilians, the back-and-forth struggles and sudden attacks are breathtaking; there are positional battles where a tank and an artillery piece remain evenly matched—this seems illogical but captivating, ultimately leading to the climax of the battle. Continuous fighting itself is obviously not the focus of the film’s expression, so the narrator often uses distancing techniques to divert the audience’s attention. For example, the random drifting of great-grandfather and grandson on the battlefield, the teasing between 'teammates' during intense fighting, and the exaggerated and artificial performances of the Japanese soldiers, even the intermittent appearances of a pig and a sheep, all seem to deconstruct the 'professionalism' of the battle to some degree. These scenes temporarily alleviate the audience's tension, and in the moments of tension and relaxation, they make the audience realize the narrator’s focus: it is about people, not the battle.
Such life-and-death scenes are certainly the best for highlighting character images—only in desperate situations can the complex facets of humanity be completely revealed. Mo Dexian, a minor employee at the Jinling Arsenal, lives a comfortable life in Gezhi Town due to his 'craftsman spirit,' but when the aggressors tighten the noose, he is the first to rise in rebellion—the flagpole hiding explosives serves as a metaphor, as he resolutely begins to fight. The captain of the artillery unit, Xiao Yan, who has always shown weakness and anxiety due to the psychological trauma of war, finally rises to become a true gunner who sacrifices himself beside his comrades. Picking up a kitchen knife, raising a firearm, drawing a bow, in Gezhi Town, there is no distinction between civilians and soldiers; nearly everyone is fighting. In the film, every owner of Gezhi Town is imperfect and has lovable or detestable flaws; most of the time they are ordinary and humble, only seeking to live their lives. Such character portrayal is actually more powerful; ordinariness is the norm, thus the extraordinary resistance and sacrifice is even more moving.
Strictly speaking, the victory logic of Gezhi Town appears overly simplistic. In contrast, the film’s portrayal of the enemy is largely caricatured. The Japanese soldiers are cruel, creating hell on earth, but how could they be that foolish? The various 'foolish' actions of enemies in the film are more to satisfy the audience’s pleasure, so a well-supplied Su Lu Tong cannon barely becomes a note of victory in battle. However, looking at it from another perspective, the victory logic of Gezhi Town is reasonable because it reflects the victory logic of the Chinese people in the War of Resistance. An individual's struggle may be powerless, a small town's struggle may be in vain, but the collective struggle of a continuously thriving great nation is full of strength. This is the most touching metaphor of “Gezhi Town.”
#XiaoZhan
# (The author is the Vice Chairman of the Jiangsu Province Television Artists Association and a professor at Nanjing Normal University’s School of Journalism and Communication)