The Battle at Lake Changjin (2021)

The Battle at Lake Changjin (Chinese: 长津湖) is a 2021 Chinese war film co-directed and co-produced by Chen Kaige, Tsui Hark and Dante Lam, written by Lan Xiaolong and Huang Jianxin, and starring Jacky Wu and Jackson Yee. It was commissioned by the propaganda department of the Chinese Communist Party as part of the Party’s 100th anniversary celebrationsю The film depicts the story of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army forcing U.S. forces to withdraw in a fictionalized retelling of the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War. The Battle at Lake Changjin is the most expensive film ever produced in China, with a budget of $200 million.

The film grossed $913 million at the worldwide box office, making it the second-highest-grossing film of 2021, the highest-grossing Chinese film of all time, the highest-grossing non-English film, and the second highest-grossing film in a single market. A sequel to the film, The Battle at Lake Changjin II, was released on 1 February 2022. The film’s historical inaccuracies garnered controversy in some countries, including South Korea. The film has been described as propaganda.

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Plot.

Wu Qianli, commander of the People’s Liberation Army’s 7th Company, returns homeafter the Chinese Civil War. He tells his family that his brother, Wu Baili, was killed in action. Having been allotted land for his service, he promises his parents he will build them a house. However, the People’s Republic of China enters the Korean War and his leave is canceled. Qianli’s younger brother, Wanli, asks to go with him, but Qianli tells him not to. The film jumps to 15 September 1950, where the Battle of Incheon is underway. Captions state that on 7 July 1950 General MacArthur “announced war on North Korea” and that “the U.S. air force carpet-bombed the total terrain of the enemy”. The film makes no mention of the North Korean invasion of South Korea on 25 June 1950. U.S. aircraft are then shown indiscriminately bombing a village in Andong Province, China, north of the Yalu River.

The film then jumps to Beijing on 4 October 1950 where the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party is meeting in Zhongnanhai to discuss the situation in North Korea. Mao Zedong asks whether the U.S. Army crossing the 38th parallel means they will also cross the Yalu (the China–North Korea border). The military briefer states that by stationing forces in Taiwan, the U.S. has already invaded China and that the buildup of U.S. forces in Korea threatens China’s security. Early the next morning, Peng Dehuai visits Mao. Mao tells Peng that he doesn’t want war, but that he will fight to protect the Chinese Communist Revolution. Mao’s eldest son Mao Anying asks Peng if he can join the People’s Volunteer Army forces being sent to Korea and Mao gives his blessing. The 7th Company is instructed to deliver communications supplies to the front lines.

To Qianli’s horror, Wanli enlisted in the army despite his family’s wishes. Wanli gets bullied by the other members of the 7th Company en route to Korea, with Qianli refusing to help him. When Qianli refuses to give him a gun, Wanli almost jumps out of the troop train in anger but is mesmerized by the sight of the Great Wall of China. After Wanli stands by the train door all night, Qianli decides to give him a rifle. The troop train is bombed while the train track is being fixed, forcing the 7th Company to continue on foot. They have several close encounters with American aircraft along the way. While attempting to cross a dried-up lake, the 7th Company comes across patrolling American aircraft. The soldiers pretend to be dead but the American pilots decide to shoot the “stiffs” on a bet. Several members of the company are killed in the strafing, including Zhang Xiaoshan, a young soldier who had befriended Wanli.

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Production.

The story of The Battle at Lake Changjin was commissioned by the National Radio and Television Administration, the Central Military Commission and the propaganda department of the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing, Hebei and Liaoning. The film was produced by Polybona Films. The screenplay was written by Lan Xiaolong, who previously wrote the novel Soldiers Sortie and its TV drama adaptation, and Huang Jianxin. In February 2020, it was reported that Andrew Lau had been offered the job of directing the film, but he was hired to direct Chinese Doctors instead; Chen Kaige, Tsui Hark and Dante Lam were later hired to direct the film. The Battle at Lake Changjin is one of the most expensive films ever made, with a production budget of over US$200 million.

Box office.

The Battle at Lake Changjin has earned a total of CN¥5.77 billion ($913 million). It is the second-highest-grossing film of 2021 and the highest-grossing Chinese film of all time. The film earned a total of $82 million in its first two days of release, and reached 1.012 billion yuan ($155.12 million) on 2 October. By 3 October, it grossed 1.5 billion yuan ($233 million) at the Chinese box office. The film earned a total of 2 billion yuan ($310.3 million) in its first five days. On 6 October, the film grossed over 3 billion yuan ($465.46 million), becoming the 13th film with a box office of more than 3 billion yuan in China’s film history.

By the end of its second weekend, it had earned $555.3 million. The film remained atop the Chinese box office for a month, being displaced by No Time to Die during the weekend of 29–31 October. It overtook Wolf Warrior 2 on 24 November to become the highest-grossing film in China. It also became the second highest-grossing film of all-time in a single market, after Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) in the United States.