One unusual night during the Japanese occupation of China, there is a knock at the door. Who is it? Asks Ma Dasan (director Jan Wen), ...It’s me! says the voice…
But after opening the door, with a gun to his head, he is forced to safeguard a pair of "bagged" Japanese POWs for a week. But when the week comes and goes, then the months, there is a point when a decision must be made (the death or freedom of the prisoners).
Jan Wen is very good as the farmer turned prison warden who tries to do the right thing. The characters are a good not great version of the Lower Depths… and just a little bit long, like waiting for Godot… and ends with Japanese savagery against the Chinese villagers. This must be one of the few themes allowed by the Chinese government to leave the country and into the theaters.

Reviewed by Eric Michel, FilmCities