Feng Xiaogang is still eschewing his signature black comedies. After dabbling in the sought-after genre of martial arts in The Banquet last year, in late 2007, he made The Assembly, a war feature, in response to the widespread military obligations foisted on boys from his childhood.

Our reporter Ouyang has the details.

Reporter:

The grappling to win the 2007 box office was at times intense. The Warlords just celebrated its entry into the 200 million yuan club, and The Assembly, released 6 days later, is predicted to effortlessly breach the 200 million line as well.

Later, if we look back, Feng Xiaogang will probably be considered a signpost on the road to the Chinese movie industry's commercialization. At a time when box offices, finances, and producers were impenetrable concepts to audiences and even some professionals, Feng Xiaogang preached that some films are about business, not art. He conducted his business well in black comedy hits like The Dream Factory and Be There or Be Square, then dabbled with art in The Banquet, and finally funneled all of his artistic energies into The Assembly.

If he was wringing his hands at the lack of A-list stars in the film or his choice of the tough-to-swallow subject of war, Feng Xiaogang will be relieved to hear these comments from audience members.

The performances of all the actors, both major and minor, are excellent.

The movie is quite touching. The story is well told and gripping from beginning to end.

The war scenes are so lifelike.

I think The Assembly is very much worth seeing. I even watched it twice.

The assembly, an object referenced by the title, is the crux of the movie. During the Huaihai Campaign in the Chinese Civil War, Captain Gu Zidi led the Ninth Infantry unit on a sniper mission. His orders were to fight the KMT Army until the assembly retreat call was sounded. But the retreat call was never sounded, and all his men fought to the death. The character of Captain Gu Zidi, the only survivor of his unit, spent the second half of the movie probing for answers. In truth, the assembly retreat call was never actually meant to be sounded. The Ninth Infantry unit was wittingly sacrificed as a stalling force to cover the other troops. At the end, Captain Gu saw justice done to all his lost battle fellows.

The message The Assembly tries to convey is that every sacrifice deserves to be immortalized.

For China Drive, I am Ouyang.