Source: CCTV.com

04-30-2009 10:04

It was the investors’ suggestion to cast super stars to perform in this film. After all, this is a really big production, but I tried to cast some not-so-famous actors and actresses. And the further we progressed with the production, the more I discovered that they were more than capable of fulfilling their jobs. They all performed very well in such a creative project.--- Lu Chuan

[Two Men]

Unyielding courage and uprightness

Lu Jianxiong (played by Liu Ye) embodies the unyielding courage and uprightness of the Chinese people

Character: Lu Jianxiong

Background: A Kuomintang officer staying in Nanjing to fight street battles during the “Nanjing Massacre”

Implication: Resistance

Actor: Liu Ye

Character’s story: He graduated from Whampoa Military Academy and received a good education. He takes an oath to fight to the death and defends Nanjing when he learns that the senior officers have decided to surrender the city and flee. He chooses to stay and resist the attack, and ultimately dies a heroic death.

Actor’s account: Everyone dies, but it is important to be courageous.

In the original script I was a survivor. I was seriously wounded but had escaped. However in the process of filming, I realized that this would not work because historical facts show that the Japanese military killed anyone who looked like they were part of the Chinese military. I am 1.86 meters tall with big eyes and bushy eyebrows, so it would have been difficult for me to escape from their slaughter. The original script was unrealistically perfect, as my character was even able to engage in a romance with "Gao Yuanyuan".

But in reality, love and survival were impossible under such merciless circumstances. I told Lu Chuan that we could not use the original script, so what we shot in the first three months was discarded, and in the new scenario I die when the massacre happens. I understood that this would reduce my role but it didn’t matter. I preferred to die an honorable death rather than to live. It can be very cruel to face the past, particularly when it was the most painful event in our five thousand years of history.

All of us found it difficult to face the truth. We grieved during and after filming the production. I remember while filming a TV program, a clip was played in which we were shot by machine guns along the moat and I could not help crying, at which point the program had to be paused. Previously in other entertainment films, I acted quite freely, but this time I did not dare and performed honestly to present the situation as it was.

Lu Chuan’s remarks: Not just I, but most people think that this is the most outstanding performance of his career. What he showed us was not only a man who was masculine but also one who had a sense of responsibility. The expression in his eyes after the tragic failure is exceptionally masculine— not that of a stereotyped man but that of a man filled with emotion.