Last Updated on January 5, 2021
From joining the army in the anti-Japanese expedition to the political struggle after the unification, Mr. Long provides us with a historical perspective different from the mainstream to review historical events. However, the ease of peacetime can easily erase the traces of history. When he finds that the times have no place for his own, he can’t live or die and is left nothing but the vicissitudes of life.
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Endorsement
Short Comments
Such a documentary to record such a character before he leaves the world. Mr. Long is a witness to an era, and that history needs this kind of stories to be restored.
-Feng Rui
Why are such documentaries so rare?
-Wu
The film is bold and true, and I couldn’t help crying.
-Xiao Yao Bu Zai Jia
A history of China’s Anti-Japanese War. Not too many people know the history.
-Tokyo Time Film
It’s a very pure record.
-Da Shu
With this character, the documentary is half way there.
-Li Bu Kong 007
It’s a film worth thinking about. The Angle is very objective.
-Guo Lei
Very true and moving documentary. Always pay tribute to our country’s anti-Japanese heroes.
-Yang Pu Xiao Nan
This film peeks into the history from the old man’s life and memories. The old man’s wrinkles through the hardships of life and interesting words describe his legendary life. Life is always forced. However, the old man doesn’t complain and accept it with calmness. I’m very touched and sad as well…Hope more people will pay attention to history and veterans!
-Tu Cheng Xiao Xian
This is not only a documentary of Long Yunsong veteran, but also the lives of many ordinary people in miniature. Mr. Long is not the embodiment of lofty heroism, but he’s sometimes also sad and lazy. However, it is precisely this life experience which lets us feel the real war veterans.
-Ai Mao Si Tan
The Kuomintang veteran’s entry point is well chosen, and the focus on the ignored part of the society also reflects the conscience of the documentary creator. Although there is no guarantee that the film will attract the attention of the authorities after it is showed, it will at least let more people know about their lives, rather than being in the embarrassing situation of being forgotten all the time.
-Chao cute Xia
The Hero Is Old and Gasping
I respect this film. This is a pure documentary – without addition and stands, only records. It has the creator’s consistent style, persistence, and attitude. It is the precious character that is bred in simple native soil, and is the immortal work out of director’s persistent character.
Maybe the picture is rough. Watching the old man’s trembling hands pour boiling water into the noodles, the camera lens can’t help but being visibly touched. This is not a blockbuster out of acting, but the real state presented to the flesh-and-blood recorder.
Perhaps the links to the clips stretch the narrative too long. However, it’s in this state that I cry with years and you sign with regret.
The music is very light to almost none, but the emotion is very strong to the blood.
The hero has gone, and I’m so agitated that I can only gasp.
The Director Fights for the Veterans’ Attention
The director truly reflects the unfair treatment and lonely life experience of some anti-Japanese war veterans, showing this social problem that has always existed but has been ignored. He makes it get attention through new media and seeks help from all aspects of the society. In this way, the current public and even the government pay attention to the placement of veterans.
Issues Review
We translate the local audiences’ reviews about issues presented in the film into English when possible. In this way, you can take a look at what local people think about these issues and have in-depth understanding about them. The number besides the reviewer represents how many upvotes a comment/review has received.
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Short Comments
The rough life of Mr. Long is also a miniature of our whole nation. The veterans’ world is not in this age, but this age clearly owes it to them. The words of the nobody like us are humble. However, as long as we never give up, there is hope, isn’t there?
-Yan Hui Shu Shu (14)
A smooth set of personal oral histories. When misfortune reaches the limit, good fortune is not at hand. However, Mr. Long stubbornly survives in the turbulence of the times. The existence of Mr. Long and the eulogies of the funeral are the barren testimony of the absurd era and politics.
-Mu Wei Er (6)
What makes me feel sad is when the interviewer asks Mr. Long what his wish is, and he replies that he only wants to die soon. Individual misfortunes speak to national grief.
-Chao cute Xia (5)
Mr. Long’s life is not only on a grand and spectacular scale, but also routine and flat.
-Zhong Shu (3)
Mr. Long’s life experience of war. However, he needs to rely on money to measure at the end of life. Honor, faith, and kindness is nothing.
-Zhang Peng ZionPi (2)
This is a serious documentary about the plight of forgotten veterans. However, Mr. Long’s Kuomintang background has added much politics to this film. This is also the main reason why the government ignores Mr. Long. At last, the review of his life in the funeral is full of irony and absurdity. There is a very social theme.
-Liang Song Hua (1)
I can’t resist this kind of film about the humble fate of individuals in the big picture. What can we do facing the current of the times?
-Yi Yi (1)
Some subsidies should be given to those who deserve credit for fighting the Japanese invasion. Is the last tribute ironic? Who wrote it?
-Lioleo (1)
After watching I can’t stay calm. As a hero of the anti-Japanese war, his present treatment is so abject only because he was in Kuomintang. But as an ordinary people, how could he choose his own direction at that time? I can only hope that the country will give these anti-Japanese heroes more care!
-Woolynn (1)
Is Mr. Long’s narrow escape from death lucky? However, he looks forward to death after ninety years old.
-Cocojamboo (1)
The life of a veteran. I hope the country is getting better and better, and the veterans can live a good life.
-Tong Zi Lou (1)
No matter Mr. Long is in Kuomintang or the Communist Party, he has the contribution beating the Japanese. I’m not asking the government to give money, but at least give credit.
-Dao Jian Xiao (1)
Whether it is political figures or ordinary people, winners rule while losers are ruled. How many of the reviews about Mr. Long’s life in the funeral are his real pursuit? No matter Kuomintang’s anti-Japanese or riffraff of the new society, it’s just his powerless life involved in the tide of the times.
-Da Shu
I have mixed feelings after watching. Why not trying hard to let the old man enjoy a comfortable and easy going old age? Does the grand funeral help at all?
-Bao Yi
The longer he lives, the more insult he gets.
-Wo Ruo Wei Zhuang
He didn’t get good treatment when he was alive, and he died with a lot of fanfare. How hypocritical it is.
-Que Tui Ma Yi
A living hell. What does the soil under his feet finally mean to him?
-Gu Shi De Xiao Hong Hua
The Yellow River, green hills, and bullets all turn into the sorrow of Mr. Long’s expecting death in old age. When he was young, he carried guns to the front line. When he is old, he has no life security. It’s really not easy to live on this land.
-Pang Guan Zhe
The village official’s eulogy at the end is well written, but rather ironic. After watching it, I didn’t think about the situation of veterans. Instead, I think over why there is still an ideological struggle which leads to the unfair situation of Kuomintang veterans.
-Zhu Shui Long
“Don’t want to become as person, just want to die soon.” It’s the kind of despair that comes with so much suffering. From joining the army in the anti-Japanese expedition to the political struggle after the unification, Mr. Long provides us with a historical perspective different from the mainstream to review historical events. However, the ease of peacetime can easily erase the traces of history. When he finds that the times have no place for his own, he can’t live or die and is left nothing but the vicissitudes of life.
-?
The lives of war veterans make me feel sorry, but there’s nothing I can do about it. He lives so hard due to his personal identity combined with the special background of the times.
-Fang Ai
The country owes it to these veterans, but it’s a pity that many of them are gone.
-Chou Si Ben Tu Zi
Many Kuomintang soldiers who didn’t go to Taiwan daren’t say that they were in the Kuomintang. They have a hard time in Mainland China.
-Jia Ru
It’s a documentary that makes you want to cry after watching. These veterans of anti-Japanese war are really poor when they are old. No, it’s the society that’s poor.
-Dian Ying Jing Tou Se Diao
A veteran with a great story. How many veterans like Mr. Long still exist in China? Veterans need to deserve our attention!
-Ri Yue Can Shang
This film is touching because it’s true. Nowadays, there may be more war veterans like Mr. Long in the society. Seventy years ago, they threw their blood, killed the enemy and protected the territory on the battlefield. They brought today’s peach with their blood and lives. We should remember the history and don’t forget the old soldiers. I also hope that the government and the public will pay more attention to their life in old age. The victory of the anti-fascist war can’t be separated from their former glory.
-Yi Tian
The war veterans’ life in old age shouldn’t be so bleak!
-Liu Zhen Hua
Every time I see the current situation of the veterans’ life, I feel very sorry and would weep silently. They have done so much for China and we have given them so little. Many of them are desolate in their old age. How can we let the national backbone be broken? An old soldier is not afraid to die, but to be forgotten!
-Yuan Xu Ni Yi Shi Chen Guang
Every veteran of the anti-Japanese war has sacrificed and paid too much. The ancient saying “respect the old and love the young” has been changed into “love the young” only. So anyway, we should pay more attention to the elderly, a group that is easily ignored, and give them respect and warmth.
-Zhou Zhou
When my understanding of history is still stuck in the history textbook and I think the Anti-Japanese and civil wars are far away, this documentary makes me realize that there are still soldiers who participated in the battle in the world. Some of them are not recognized by the state, so they don’t receive subsidies after retirement, and live a hard life. However, they still remember the battles they fought and they are still patriotic. They hope to receive national recognition even on their deathbeds.
-Zha Jiang Mian
The national guard that once fought bravely for the country against aggressors don’t even have begging style “subsistence allowance” in old age? The government is not generous enough!
-koko
It shows the group from an individual. The problems Mr. Long faces are also what most veterans have to face.
-Fang Ai
History cuts heroes in half. Historically they have been used as labels.
-Yi Qie Huo Dou Shi Huo
The Ones Left Behind in the Corner
The documentary Anti-Japanese War Veteran impresses me a lot, probably because it’s similar to my grandfather’s experience. My grandfather was also an anti-Japanese veteran, and unlike Mr. Long, he is a communist. However, one of the plots is similar. It’s bureaucratic formalism. Among other things, Anti-Japanese War Veteran is a true reflection of several social problems:
- War veterans are forgotten by the society.
- Defects of the social pension system.
- Chairman Xi has been speaking out against the “formalism” of officials.
- Poor living conditions in the rural area.
Documentaries can expose some social problems or record something that is disappearing.
Dai Mei Yun (2)
History Should Be Recognized
After showing the documentary, there are several guests sharing. One of the women’s father and Mr. Long are in similar situation. He has six fingers and was wanted for killing a Japanese soldier with his bare hand at the age of fifteen or sixteen. He fled from Beijing to Shanxi and joined the Kuomintang without any other options. They are now collectively known as the National Revolutionary Army. Later, he returned to Beijing and didn’t say that he was a member of the Kuomintang army. His daughter learned some from the gossip of their neighbors.
Former Chairman Hu Jintao acknowledged that year the role of the national revolutionary army in the anti-Japanese war. The old man cried like a child after watching TV. To prove that her father used to be part of the army, she later accompanied her father to Shanxi. With difficulty, her father was able to recall some things at that time. For example, what gun he used and where the building was, so as to complete the proof. However, the country had no way to issue military medals afterwards. She got one by accident by other means. When the old man learned that it was not issued by the state, he said he didn’t want it. As a result, he didn’t fulfill this wish until he died.
In the year of the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, she called the Civil Affairs Department to apply. The feedback she got was that they only awarded to people who were alive and could come to the event, and they couldn’t take care of dead ones. In any case, the mainland and Taiwan have very different attitudes towards such matters. In addition, many people do not accept the commemorative badges issued by the mainland. She has applied to the government in Taiwan. All veterans, whether alive or not, are recognized.
History should be recognized, and we have no right to distort it and deny those veterans’ merits. It’s true that without them, we can’t have such a good life now. They have done so much for us. What can we do for them?
Fate of Nobody in Big Times
On Sep. 2, 1945, the gloom was cleared and the country celebrated. The gears of death finally stopped, and the rising sun finally rose slowly from the cold land of China. After seventy years, the rise of China has come after its reforming and opening up. Today’s China stands tall in the east and attracts worldwide attention. You and I will enjoy the great events in September. How lucky we are to born in today’s China!
We lamented the eight-year Anti-Japanese War with dead and wounded ones everywhere, beloved ones gone. Besides, we recall with emotion the great changes of mountains and rivers, everything being there. The wounded and meritorious ones all get what they deserve. However, within the seventy years, there was also a 19-year-old young guy joining the army to fight in the battlefield. He survived after many hazards, but no one was waiting for him to return. He has no relatives, no friends, no country, no praise, no reputation, and no one to remember him.
The film reflects the plight of the Kuomintang veterans after the Anti-Japanese War through the way of seeing the big picture represented by Mr. Long. It makes contemporary China wake up from the glorious appearance of the rise of the victorious nation and realize that the heroes who made such a prosperous world for us may actually be in a remote place without any shelter or food. As responsible Chinese who remember the history, we don’t lack the execution to solve problems, but the opportunity to find them. Director Jiang’s documentary series on veterans of the Anti-Japanese War give us the key to see reality. Let us listen to their loneliness and let the society heal their pain.
The film gives the viewers a great shock. The vast contrast between what we see and hear and what is really going on in life makes this gray reality particularly poignant. Death may not be the worst thing. It is indifference and forgetfulness which is more terrible than death. The eventful years of iron and blood shouldn’t be dissipated in the sighing wind of old age. We should rescue the history and it’s urgent.
When the old men wearing medals can only tell the chickens, ducks, and wild dogs about the glory of the battlefield. While they are willing to sacrifice their lives for the country but being misunderstood, and all their merits disappear. When the once good guy is now ill and lonely in old age. Can we still enjoy the prosperity with ease? Mr. Long has passed away, but left us deep thinking. There are so many remaining distressed veterans out there. Why not let them feel a rare warmth and erase their pain for years at the end of their life? At least let them feel this life is worth it.
