First Chinese Trailer for Zhang Yimou’s Next New Film ‘Full River Red’

First Chinese Trailer for Zhang Yimou’s Next New Film ‘Full River Red’

by Alex Billington
December 28, 2022
Source: YouTube

An early promo trailer from China has debuted for the latest film from acclaimed Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou, who has been making at least one new film every year even during the pandemic (One Second, Cliff Walkers, Snipers). Yimou’s latest is a historical epic thrilelr titled Full River Red, which seems to be a commentary on Communism and China. The title of his latest film comes from a poem about Yue Fei, “a military general during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), well-known for his patriotism and loyalty to his country, who was framed and executed by Prime Minister Qin Hui, one of the most treacherous officials in China’s history.” Mao Zedong wrote a poem about him and the film is about Yue Fei fighting the invading Jürchen barbarians. Only a few details are known at this time. Yi Yang Qianxi stars along with Shen Teng, Yue Yunpeng, Zhang Yi, and Lei Jiayin. This has some slick long takes in it, following soldiers around a castle complex to see who’s still alive after an attack. We’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for this.

Here’s the first international trailer (+ poster) for Zhang Yimou’s Full River Red from YouTube (via TFS):

The story appears to be related to the Southern Song dynasty general Yue Fei (1103-1142), who repelled the invading Jürchen barbarians. The title is from a poem that Mao Zedong wrote about Yue during World War II, where he cast the Japanese as a modern reincarnation of the Jürchen. This might mean that “red” from the title has the double meaning of both “blood” and “Communism”. “A pawn tries to get rid of a traitorous minister, Qin Hui, when he leads an army to the border for talks with a Jurchen mission.” Full River Red, also known as Man Jiang Hong, is directed by the prolific Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou, director of films including Raise the Red Lantern, The Road Home, Hero, House of Flying Daggers, Curse of the Golden Flower, A Woman a Gun and a Noodle Shop, The Flowers of War, Coming Home, The Great Wall, Shadow, Cliff Walkers, One Second, Cliff Walkers, and Snipers previously. The screenplay is written by Zhang Yimou and Chen Yu (Sniper, Rock Solid). Inspired by the poem Man Jiang Hong, Raging Crown. It’s set to open January 2023 in China, but there’s no US release date yet. Stay tuned. First impression?

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