Ding Xiaobing played by Ma Yue.

This excruciating maneuver in the protagonist's troubled life launches not only a protracted, vicarious struggle for the viewers, but also the beginning of an immensely emotional experience.

The film adapted from a real story about Ding Xiaobing, an army officer who lost his right arm in a battle in 1984 during the Sino-Vietnam war.

Twenty-three years ago, Ding was carrying a prisoner back to his own camp when a bomb fell in his path. No time to think, he picked up the bomb and tried to throw it away. The bomb exploded in his hand, cutting his right arm off from the middle. When he woke up from a blackout, he found blood was spurting from the limb. He and his fellow soldiers, dragging the captive, ran desperately to their camp. On the way, Ding used a dagger to cut his arm, the two parts of which were only connected by a thin layer of skin. He brought the broken arm, hoping doctors could re-connect it. They ran for four hours before Ding fainted again at the first sight of their camp.

The soldiers thought he had died because he lost so much blood and had almost no pulse. They cried over his body, until a senior doctor realized the soldier was still alive.

The film offers a detailed display of how Ding lost his arm on the battlefield at the beginning and several flashbacks. But the most difficult part during the filming, according to director Chen Guoxing, is how the one-arm hero lives as an officer in the peaceful times.

"It was very hard to tell a story about army officers without wars," Chen says.

But that was the reality. Ding was awarded numerous honors after he returned home from the battlefield. The army found him a decent job and asked him to retire from soldiering, but Ding insisted on staying on as an officer. After overcoming dozens of difficulties from the basic grenade throwing, packaging to strategy designing, Ding made outstanding achievements as an officer devoted to training his soldiers. What rewarded him most were the soldiers' love and another batch of awards.

The director interprets the seemingly peaceful life after the battle as "another war with the character himself has begun," and used nearly two-thirds of the film to deal with it. How Ding struggled to live a normal life by learning to write again, putting on clothes, and washing clothes, as well as how he communicates with his soldiers and helps them in training, are equally touching.

Chen found young actor Ma Yue, who used to be a soldier himself, to play Ding. "I want to shape an untraditional hero, who is young and handsome, to resonate with a young audience, especially university students and those out of the army," he says.

Ma, the leading actor, spoke with Ding and his wife numerous times during the two-month shooting in order to understand the character. The result was what he summarized as "three types," namely a human, a man, and a soldier. A human means he should not overact; a man refers to Ding's masculinity; and a soldier is full of courage and resolution.

"When I bear the three types in my mind, I think I've found the key to act the role successfully," says Ma.

When he left the crew after the film finished, Ma sent a text message to say goodbye to Ding. Ding replied: "I think we will be good friends forever."

(China Daily 10/15/2007 page8)