It is not always easy for a director, whose previous films have won wide public praise and reaped fat box office returns, to make a break from his usual style. But Chinese director Feng Xiaogang is an exception. Two years after his last New Year blockbuster, Feng is back on the scene with a new war epic called The Assembly. Dubbed as China's answer to Saving Private Ryan, Feng's 80 million yuan (US$11 million) movie The Assembly is the country's first commercial modern war epic of recent years, and the famed director hopes it makes a significant step away from the propaganda tone of other Chinese movies of that genre.

A former soldier himself, Feng said he tried to tell a different story from most war movies, a story about responsibility as well as soldiers' human feelings and fears in battle. He said he hopes the film will remind the audience of the real terror of war.

"In the past, Chinese war film heroes were unafraid," Feng said, sitting under a tree, chain smoking under the brim of his trademark baseball cap. "This film should remind the world of the horrors of the regular soldier. No sacrifice should be forgotten, no matter what side you're on."

The film begins in 1948, at the turning point of the last Chinese civil war, and ends in 1956, three years after the end of the Korean War. It centers on Captain Gu Zidi and his Ninth Company, during the Chinese civil war. Gu's mission is to quickly occupy an advantageous position to prevent the advance of the enemy in support of the main army force. His orders are to retreat only when the assembly bugle is sounded. But the Captain hears no call. The tiny, under-equipped company fights on until Captain Gu is the last man standing. The story then moves to 1955 when China entered a period of peaceful development. Gu is on a quest to discover the truth and to restore the honor of 46 comrades who died for the greater cause.

Shot in northeast China, The Assembly is adapted from a true story from Yang Jinyuan's novel The Law Suit. The script is written by Zhang Heng, who is the scriptwriter of Zhang Yimou's Ju Dou (1990), The Story of Qiu Ju (1992) and director Sun Zhou's Breaking the Silence (2000).

"The story was given by one of my friends Zhang Guoli who is also an actor and director," Feng said. "The original novel is quite short, three pages in total, but the story line is very touching. Then I decided to make it into a movie." Feng has avoided casting an all-star lineup to show his seriousness. He says he picked good, low-profile actors for his movie because he didn't want his audience distracted by lots of big names.

"For such a serious film, I don't think viewers should be distracted by their like or dislike of certain actors. The roles are too important. But as a commercial director, I surely will work with big name stars in the future. For this specific production, I think the integrity of the role counts for more," Feng said.

Zhang Hanyu, who had a supporting role in Feng's A World Without Thieves, said: "The spirit of The Assembly is something that has been lacking in China for a while now, one of friendship and sacrifice."

Feng said he watched English-language war films, including Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima, along with The Thin Red Line, Enemy at the Gates and John Woo's Windtalkers.

Feng, whose previous comedies like Big Shot's Funeral established him as China's most commercially successful director, shows much of his earlier skill at building engaging characters. His popular contemporary films include Cell Phone (2003) and A World Without Thieves (2004). His 2006 imperial court epic The Banquet, inspired by the Shakespearean play Hamlet, raked in 100 million yuan (US$12.5 million) in China by the end of September, two weeks after its nationwide debut.

Backed by Huayi Brothers, one of China's leading private film companies, The Assembly premiered at the recent Pusan International Film Festival in South Korea and is scheduled for release in China later this year.

As a commercial director, Feng considers box office to be paramount. The Assembly will be up against the martial arts blockbuster The Warlords by director Peter Chan and Stephen Chow's A Hope.

"It's good. The film industry is developing rapidly with more people inclined to invest. In prime season for movie releases, it's natural many filmmakers want to share a piece of the pie. I think the biggest beneficiaries are movie-goers. They have more options," Feng said.

The Assembly will premiere on December 18 at Beijing Workers' Stadium. The premier will last for 3 hours, with the main cast and production crew present, as well as stars such as Tan Dun, Zhang Ziyi, Ge You and Zhou Xun. Ticket: 280-1280 yuan 800-810-3721 (24 hours) English Service 64177845

(China Daily 12/14/2007 page6)