Movies that made us

By Qi Zhai

How a handful of films influenced generations of Chinese people

革命鼓舞人，电影塑造人。曾经，有这么一批电影，给好几代中国人的精神生活打上深深的烙印。

"There was little to do for fun. On weekends, my parents and I went to the mall and watched movies, mostly American imports. I liked period romance...My mom, like a good Chinese wife and mother, she deferred movie selection to us...Once, an old Chinese war movie came on TV. Dad dropped the Newsweek he was reading. Mom came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron. They sat down in front of the TV and barely blinked as black-and-white images from " Battle of Triangle Hill"《上甘岭》 flashed. I was curious. What movie could have both my parents equally engrossed? I went to look over their shoulders. Scenes from Korea, where valiant-Chinese soldiers had gone to defend the peninsula against American imperialists, played to soaring orchestral arrangements. I felt teas well up in my eyes. What would my American friends say at school? Crying at a propaganda movie?!..."

http://www.theworldofchinese.com/2013/01/jiang-wens-let-the-bullets-fly/