Movie Review: Lovers’ Grief Over the Yellow River

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Movie Review
Plot Summary
Lover’s Grief over the Yellow River by Feng Xiaoning is one of the outstanding traditional Chinese films. The plot of the film centers on an American pilot, who meets and falls in love with a young fighter who had encountered a sexual assault from Japanese invaders. The film reveals the experience of a grounded American pilot during the Second World War after learning about the spirit of Chinese people. A communist-led Chinese army rescues the pilot following an emergency landing near the Great Wall. The pilot falls in love with a girl soldier, who is determined to fight based on her lingering memory of sexual assault from Japanese. The American pilot returns to Yellow River after half a century to recognize the native people, who rescued him.
Notably, featuring the Japanese in the film reinforces a perception of America and China and the bonds on humanity and civilization. Love is one of the notable themes in Lover’s Grief over the Yellow River through the narrative of a Chinese woman and an American, Owen (Xiaoning 5:56). The director must have set the film during the closing days of the Second World War in Shaanxi province. While an American fighter pilot has a crash landing behind Japanese lines, a unit of Chinese Route Army rescues her. The army escorts the fighter to a liberated area that is safe. A pilot witnesses the outstanding national spirit of the Chinese in confronting the cruel aggressor. One of the illustrations is that the Chinese were longing for peace and comfortable livelihood.
The army group and the American fighter arrives at a military station only to realize that the Imperial Army had destroyed the entire village. The film lacks any compelling portrayal of the Japanese. Therefore, the squad lacks any other option but to send Owen to Yan’an. During the journey, a Chinese girl, An Jie, and Owen develops love feelings towards each other (Xiaoning 10: 13). Therefore, Owen recognizes Chinese culture and residents. A pilot witnesses the outstanding national spirit of the Chinese in confronting the cruel aggressor. One of the indications is that the Chinese were longing for peace and comfortable livelihood.
Literature Review
The interdisciplinary nature of Chinese films reveals the themes of nationalism, identity, and soft power. Since the founding of the Republic of China, various party states have utilized films to advocate nationalism as one of the fundamental ideologies. Lover’s Grief over the Yellow River is one of the movies, which reveal the common Chinese values. The film is a relevant transnational cultural platform in enhancing the ...