Devils on the Doorstep

Director: Wen Jiang
China, 2000

The movie tells a story in a peaceful Chinese village when it was occupied by Japaneses between 1944 and 1945, but it is not about the horrendous historical events but about human's devilish mind and its conflicts.

In a such small town, the villagers seem to get along with japanese occupants until a Japanese soldier and a Chinese translator were mysteriously deposited by an armed stranger for a limited period of time. Threatened by the stranger, the villagers get together and discuss how to handle the two. Even after a few months passed, the stranger doesn't come back to get them, so the villagers decide to kill them for their own safety. The one, Da San(?), who is destined to kill them couldn't do it, so hide them in a secret place and feed them. Not knowing this fact, his pregnant wife shuns him and doesn't like even a slight touch from him. The man is too conscientious to stand all the situation. For all the efforts that he made, the detained Japanese soldier only shows his patriotism and hatred toward the villagers.

It is not so clear how he came to trust the Chinese people. One day, he promised to let the villagers have some food once they release him to the Japanese army. Every one is so happy and makes a contract. The Japanese captain comes to the village with the food as promised and all the Chinese villagers and the Japanese solders have a feast one night. From this moment, tension builds up dramatically. The Japanese captain orders a village to kill the once detained Japanese soldier because of his dishonor, but the villager doesn't take it seriously and says along with a friendly gesture that his village doesn't have weapon and they don't kill anyone. Right this moment the Japanese soldier jumps on the villager and kills him. Why? In my understanding it is because the friendly gesture the villager showed to the captain wasn't acceptable to the hard-trained soldier, although he was facing his death. Perhaps he wanted to get a favor from his captain for his loyal attitude toward the captain. Then slaughters begin.

Devils are right at the doorstep no matter how innocent you are. What makes one keep from devils and what makes one filled with devilish cruelty?

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