This epic film is the ideal sequel of Red River Valley, one of the most spectacular films ever shot in China. This film also promises to leave a cynical western audiences somehow puzzled with its story based on the memories of an elderly former American pilot who returns to the Yellow River banks to remember those he has loved and to whom he owes his life.
At the end of World War II, an American plane is forced to land near the Great Wall of China after suffering technical difficulties. Its pilot is rescued by a Red Army group who take him to the various areas freed from the Communists. During the journey, the relationship between the naive American pilot and the Chinese guerrillas is transformed, through the mediation of the inevitable love affair between the pilot and a beautiful young woman soldier who has abandoned her clan privileges in order to build a more equal world.
The initial acrobatic scenes are shot with great proficency and the depiction of the rural setting is one of the most magnificent ever seen on Chinese screens. Some interesting details are the depiction of Chinese feudal social structure in a relatively modern setting, and the capturing of the Yellow River as the cradle of Chinese civilisation. The country's key commercial success of 1999, the film grossed approximately US$2 million and was chosen to represent China at the American Academy Awards.
Maria Barbieri