The Big Parade [Da yue bing] **** (1986, Wang Xueqi, Sun Chun, Lei Lu) – Classic Movie Review 7886

Director Chen Kaige’s 1986 The Big Parade [Da yue bing] is a Chinese film with a subject that is familiar and easy to relate to – an army drama in which a large group of young soldiers comes to a training camp for intensive drilling and instruction to win a place in the National Day parade.

Director Kaige, the maker of 1984’s Yellow Earth, has ambitiously created a movie that is both a gung ho entertainment and a symbolic look at Chinese life through the experiences of the film’s six main characters.

The film’s stars Wang Xueqi, Sun Chun, Lei Lu, Guan Qiang and Li Tung [Hua Kang], turn in vividly naturalistic performances and the film’s Scope images, gorgeously photographed by future master film director Zhang Yimou, are a triumph. It should appeal to those who admire Full Metal Jacket as well as Yellow Earth.

The Big Parade [Da yue bing] is directed by Chen Kaige, runs 103 minutes, is made by Guangxi Film Studio, is written by Gao Lilli, is shot by Zhang Yimou and is scored by Qu Xiaosong.

It is a Chinese movie filmed in the Mandarin language.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7886

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