The geopolitical landscape of the early twenty-first century is defined by a singular, undeniable transition: the moment when the United States ceases to be the undisputed master of the world stage, and the baton is most likely to be passed to China. While this shift may seem distant to some, the cracks in the American empire are visible even now, evident in sectors that Americans dominated for more than a century, most notably in the entertainment industry and, specifically, the cinema. Last year, Chinese animated film Ne Zha 2 became only the second non-Hollywood film in history to become the global leader in yearly box-office receipts, a monumental achievement that signaled a changing of the guard. However, the true harbinger of this new cinematic reality may have arrived four years earlier. Another Chinese film, The Battle at Lake Changjin, briefly achieved the same status in October 2021 before being overwhelmed by the late premiere of Spider-Man: No Way Home. Yet, despite this brief moment at the summit of the global box office, the film remains, for the most part, an enigma to Western audiences.
The world, and particularly Western media, was not exactly aware of the magnitude of this achievement, a fact that can be explained through a complex combination of various factors. The most obvious reason is that the film was made almost exclusively for the domestic Chinese market, rather than the international sphere. It made monster-size domestic box office figures due to a lack of Hollywood competition, a vacuum that was exacerbated by the lingering effects of COVID-19 and widespread lockdowns. However, another, perhaps more significant reason for the film being all but unknown in the West is that its subject matter deals with an event that is simply too painful for American chauvinists to acknowledge. It forces a confrontation with a military defeat that, while historical, still stings the American psyche.
The title refers to the Chinese name for the event, which in the USA and the West is better known as the "Battle of Chosin Reservoir." It occurred in late 1950 and stands as the most important battle and the last major turning point of the Korean War. Following a US counteroffensive led by General Douglas MacArthur, the battle prevented the Communist North Korean forces from being completely overrun. Instead, it led to a stalemate and the division of the peninsula that persists to this day. Even more importantly, and despite decades of revisionist reinterpretations in Western textbooks, the battle represents the most spectacular US military defeat since the Civil War. It led to the longest retreat in the entire history of the US military. For the newly founded People’s Republic of China, it represented a colossal achievement, especially considering that the Chinese military, in the century or so prior, was not exactly renowned for besting foreign, and especially Western, armies. The achievement was even larger when considering that the so-called "People’s Volunteer Army" (PVA) was technologically inferior, exhausted from years of war with Japan and civil conflict, and was facing what was, at the time, considered the best military machine on the planet.
The Battle at Lake Changjin was made for explicitly propaganda purposes, serving as a series of high-budget period epics commissioned by the ruling CCP to mark the 70th anniversary of its coming to power in China. It received a budget estimated at $200 million and featured three directors: Chen Kaige, who began his career in mainland China and earned international esteem for his period dramas; Tsui Hark, the powerhouse of Hong Kong action cinema; and Dante Lam, a disciple of John Woo. This star-studded lineup promised a visual feast, and the producers did not hide the film's massive expenditure, which becomes immediately evident in the extensive use of CGI. These effects are used to convey the sheer scale of the conflict, featuring massive numbers of ships, tanks, and airplanes engaged in battle scenes that dwarf anything seen in comparable Hollywood productions.
Despite the technical prowess, the film nevertheless follows a relatively simple three-part structure. The first part provides a basic outline of the conflict and introduces the characters; the second part shows the troubled journey of the PVA from the Chinese-Korean border to the frontlines; and the third part actually shows the combat. The third act is undoubtedly the most interesting, featuring plenty of brutal action, graphic violence, and plenty of pyrotechnics. Much of the combat takes place during the night, which makes the explosions look even more spectacular against the backdrop of the frozen landscape. However, the plot of this three-hour film follows a group of fictional protagonists – soldiers of the 7th Company, a unit of the PLA that would take part in the war. It begins when its commander, Wu Qianli (played by Wu Jing), visits his parents' home to bring the ashes of his brother, Wu Baili, who died in the recently ended Civil War. Wu’s plans to build a new home for his family are disrupted by the start of the Korean War and the decision of the Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong to intervene against US forces led by General MacArthur. Wu Qianli returns to the 7th Company and has to deal with his younger brother, Wu Wanli (played by Jackson Yee), who has, against his wishes, volunteered for Korea and joined his unit. Wu Qianli hopes that his younger brother might have better chances of survival if he is mentored by Lei Susisheng (played by Hu Jun), a veteran and leader of the company's mortar platoon. Survival becomes difficult, because the US Air Force dominates the sky, and PVA soldiers might get annihilated even before they reach the actual frontline. When they do arrive, they have to deal with the bitter cold, hunger, and a lack of equipment, but they compensate with bravery and resourcefulness that proves handy when they face their technologically superior, but over-arrogant, enemy at close quarters.
The film clearly serves its propaganda purposes and depicts the conflict exclusively from the Chinese Communist perspective. It celebrates the sacrifice of the "volunteers," including Mao’s own son, Mao Anying (played by Huang Xuan), whose death in a US napalm strike is reconstructed with tragic effect. On the other hand, when depicting Americans, the film does not show them as particularly villainous; the closest thing to a villain is an ordinary soldier referring to Chinese with racial epithets. The film attempts a more nuanced portrayal of the American leadership, however. Major General Oliver L. Smith (played by John Fred Cruz), commander of the US 1st Marine Division, is depicted as a much more capable and intelligent officer than his pompous and bellicose superior, MacArthur. In the scene near the film's end, Smith expresses respect for the Chinese opponents who have defeated him, adding a layer of tragic dignity to the US perspective.
Film’s success in China can be explained not only by its technical skill but also by the film deliberately pandering to rising nationalist sentiment and the anti-Americanism that marked the end of "Chimerica" and the escalating tensions between the two superpowers that began with Trump’s first mandate. Those Western critics who watched this film greeted it with hostility, particularly Americans. This hostility might be explained by the fact that its premiere coincided with the end of the Afghanistan War, another US military fiasco. In this light, the Chinese recreation of a similar event occurring seven decades earlier looked too much like rubbing salt in a fresh wound. It was a reminder that the US military is not invincible, a truth that the "Forgotten War" had sought to bury.
For those viewers unencumbered by current geopolitics, however, The Battle at Lake Changjin can be appreciated as an old-school war epic, the kind Hollywood used to make in the 1960s. While there are obvious flaws with the one-dimensionality of characters and the raw propaganda, fans of military history would appreciate the way the Korean War was depicted from an unusual perspective. The film pays great care to period details, including equipment from both sides that looks authentic, and it captures the atmosphere of the frozen hell of the reservoir more effectively than many American productions. It is a film of massive ambition and considerable craftsmanship, even if it is sometimes heavy-handed in its messaging.
Expecting success, the producers immediately made a sequel, The Battle at Lake Changjin II, which was released in early 2022. This demonstrates that the CCP views the retelling of this narrative as a crucial part of its cultural and political arsenal, aimed not just at domestic consumption but at crafting a global image of a rising China that refuses to accept the historical dominance of the West. It is a film worth watching, if only to understand the perspective of the rising power that is currently reshaping the world.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
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