Beyond the Heroism

    For a long time almost all military dramas in China tended to appeal to the audience by depicting undiluted heroism. My Chief and My Regiment is unprecedented for its sympathetic portrayal of this group of shabby, defeated soldiers shifting between hiding places at the China-Myanmar border. It is their pitiful and sometimes laughable experiences that move the plot along.

    In another break from tradition, there is also no clear hero in the drama. Long Wenzhang, one of the lead roles, is a phony who steals the identity of a deceased colonel. Long never hesitates to use any dirty trick to arouse his fellow soldiers’ fighting will. Another lead role, Division Commander Yu Xiaoqing, gets promoted by relying on Long’s help, but later gets Long into situations that nearly prove fatal. Besides these two, the other main characters in the drama are all ostensibly rogues in uniform.

    Viewers who look forward to seeing conventional heroism in the play say that they simply miss the point of these new angles on characterization. “This drama is not meant to be an ode to the glory of war or the courage of the men in it,” explains Duan Yihong, who played Long Wenzhang. “During the shooting of a scene about clashes between my team and the Japanese, the director told us not to be so calm and intrepid, insisting we are just ordinary humans after all, with a natural fear of death. The soldiers we play, remnants of a defeated army, have actually lost hope and their will to fight, but eventually make the choice of returning to combat the invaders. People tend to think that soldiers always have a firm will and invariably act resolutely in battle. But how is that possible? People’s inner conditions are different. They may act out of disparate motivations. This is what we want to explore in the drama.”

    Some play critics laud My Chief and My Regiment as a milestone in China’s TV drama industry. It can’t be denied that the new approach certainly brings novel and exciting elements to Chinese military epics.