Devils on the Doorstep

Devils on the Doorstep simplified Chinese traditional Chinese Japanese literally the devils are here is a 2000 Chinese black comedy film directed, cowritten and produced by Jiang Wen, starring Jiang himself, Kagawa Teruyuki, Yuan Ding and Jiang Hongbo. Shot in black and white to mimic oldtime war movies, the film premiered at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival onMay and clinched the Grand Prix but was subsequently banned in its home country.

In a small village named RackArmor Terrace in Hebei, at the foot of the Great Wall of China, a local peasant called Ma Dasan played by Jiang Wen is caught by surprise when a man bursts into his home one night and deposits two men in gunnysacks, instructing him at gunpoint to keep them captive but alive for the next few days and interrogate them. The man, identified only as Me, leaves before Ma can catch a glimpse of him. One of the gunnysacks contains Kosaburo Hanaya Kagawa Teruyuki, a belligerent Japanese sergeant the other Dong Hanchen Yuan Ding, an obsequious Chinese interpreter working for the Japanese Army. Ma hurriedly enlists the help of his fellow villagers. Fearing both the mysterious Me and the Japanese, the village decides to follow the instructions from Me and detains the prisoners in Mas cellar. Hanaya repeatedly attempts to provoke the peasants into killing him, but Dong, fearing for his own life, alters Hanayas words in translation to make him appear conciliatory.The mystery man fails to return by the eve of Chinese New Year as promised. Six months later, the villagers finally run out of patience and resolve to kill the prisoners. The task falls on Ma after a drawing of lots. Not daring to commit murder, Ma instead hides the prisoners in a watchtower along the Great Wall, where he visits them regularly to bring them food and water. However, an unsuccessful escape attempt by the prisoners reveals Mas secret to the rest of the village. A bitter argument ensues and the village decides to hire an assassin from town to carry out the deed. Ma enlists the help of an old man known as One Stroke Liu Chen Qiang, a former Imperial executioner. He is told that being beheaded by Liu feels like a passing breeze, and that the severed head will roll nine times on the ground, blink three times, and smile in a gesture of gratitude for such a painless death. However, Liu fails to harm either prisoner with one stroke. Claiming that it is the will of Heaven, Liu leaves w

Source: Wikipedia