So, uh, China, how many films ya gonna make about the Rape of Nanjing this year? Is there a wave of holocaustic nostalgia breaking out? Cuz I’ve been to two already, and I only see Chinese when they run out of English ones to see. So the fact that I’ve already seen a 2025 film set in 1937 Nanjing (Dead to Rights) gives me pause. Was there a contest, China? How many more of these are to follow?
Luckily for me, Gezhi Town only starts in Nanjing. Within seconds, the players are on a boat down either the Yangtze or the Yellow River. I’m not sure the film was ever clear on that part. The point is Nanjing was no longer livable, so the inhabitants fled for the hills … and so did the worst soldiers China has to offer. In fact, given China’s propensity for self-promotion, I am stunned that a Chinese film would depict Chinese soldiers as such lily-livered, cowardly ninnies. “Oh, no, farmer dude, save us! It’s a Japanese. We don’t know what to do!”
I’m getting ahead of myself. Following Nanjing, level-headed young buck Mo Dexian (Xiao Zhan) takes his people to the mountain town of Gezhi. Now this town has also been abandoned because of the war, which puzzles me to no end. Why didn’t you go to a place the war hasn’t found? And what happens when the inhabitants of this town return from wherever they went? Doesn’t matter. Mo is caring for himself, a woman who may or may not be his wife, her deaf child, and a doddering grandfather who won’t die.
The grandfather is part of a huge comic relief campaign, along with the soldier incompetence. 
None of it is funny, really, but we acknowledge that the war isn’t completely serious except for the part where torture, murder, and societal collapse all flow freely. This film plays either like M*A*S*H, except that none of it is funny, or -with an epic man v. tank battle at the end of the film- like Saving Private Ryan, except none of the serious moments are all that good … mostly because they are undermined by stupidity.
Both the best and worst parts of the film are that Mo -a certainly young and able-bodied Chinese civilian- is the best soldier among them. Except he’s not a soldier; he just wants to protect his family. Gezhi Town has some moments, certainly, and I sure wanted to root for the Chinese townspeople beset by constant attempts at horror and humor, but it was quite difficult to enjoy this one for more than a few minutes at a time.
♪Gezhi is a town
Yeah, I know it’s near Mountain Echo
But lately war has come
And it don’t wanna go
Gezhi’s gonna absorb some new folks
Just thought you’d like to know
And they’re combing in from those hills
And they’re setting up shop, I just know it
And here come the Japanese late, late at night
You know I wish I were in Gezhi Town
I wanna hide in Gezhi Town
Where can I find a village like that? ♫
Not Rated, 121 Minutes
Director: Sheng Kong
Writer: Xiaolong Lan
Genre: War. What is it good for? (A lot of unnecessary deaths)
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Chinese farmers
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: The Japanese
♪ Parody Inspired by “Jessie’s Girl”
