‘The Battle at Lake Changjin’ Review: A Patriotic Chinese View of the Korean War

Errors and omissions are standard features of historical dramas everywhere. It is therefore no surprise to find Korean War history being filtered to suit domestic requirements in the three-hour Chinese blockbuster “The Battle at Lake Changjin.” Nor is it unexpected for U.S. military characters to be cardboard cutouts with excruciatingly bad dialogue. And, like many other jingoistic war epics, this prestige production co-directed by industry heavyweights Chen Kaige, Tsui Hark and Dante Lam offers little more than generic human drama in between massive and mostly impressive battle scenes. The latest in a long line of strongly nationalistic films released during… Read Full Article