Devils on the Doorstep

Jiang Wen's ravishingly photographed anti-war epic is set in 1945 in a Japanese-occupied rural Chinese village. Ma Dasan (Wen), a peasant, who, one night at gunpoint, is compelled to shelter two prisoners. One is a captured Japanese soldier who wants to be killed, the other his Chinese interpreter, who wants to stay alive. As the days turn into months, Dasan and his fellow villagers keep their unwanted guests hidden from the Japanese forces, while deciding whether or not to execute their captives. A plan to exchange the men for grain leads to the film's harrowing and devastating climax. (official distributor synopsis)