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[Music]
this
is a story of heroes
none of grey kings or knights
are politicians
not of any single man who shaped history
this is a story of ordinary people
of everyday men who suffered great
losses
of frontline soldiers were forced to
fight a war they did not sign up for
who made the greatest sacrifice
this is a story of how history is shaped
by everyone
this
is the 800
it was the prelude to world war ii
the imperial japanese army was invading
china
shanghai was about to fall
amongst the last lines of defense the
suhang warehouse was the most peculiar
it was guarded by just 452 soldiers
in an attempt to boast their strength
and to remind themselves of the lost
president they claimed to number in 800.
the warehouse is situated right in front
of the international settlement in
shanghai territories owned by western
nations
a place where the japanese army cannot
enter without making itself an enemy to
the rest of the world
that mission fight to the death for the
world to see
in desperate hope to spur support from
the allies
[Music]
heroes are ordinary people who rise to
the occasion i find that to be an
inspiring angle to see history
in most cultures heroes are people of
grandiose personalities
the abilities the ambitions and even the
flaws are larger than life so it's
rather surprising to go into this movie
being told to expect heroes and realize
most of them don't want to fight
we see the searchers trying to run away
scared soldiers hiding in the tunnels
during battle
in fights between troopers
people stealing gas masks from each
other people shocked by death
humans shocked by the act of killing
in this film heroes are like you and me
just people
given the same circumstances we would
have likely acted the same way
scared confused driven to madness
as the story progresses these soldiers
have to go through all five stages of
grief
although not all of them can complete
this journey
they were forced to accept the reality
of war that they have to come together
to fight
not because of hope but because it's the
best options they have
and through this acceptance they find
meanings in the fight against certain
death
they are heroes not because of the
abilities but because of the sacrifices
war movies are often stories of a few
men's heroics
to see the war through the perspective
of the leaders or experience it as a
couple of frontline soldiers
it's a standard way of storytelling
having one character ask the audience
surrogate and tell the big story from a
personal perspective
but in the 800 no one is in the lead all
soldiers as a collective are presented
in almost a blur the film will show you
a seemingly important officer only for
him to never show up again
is designed to be watched without you
remembering the names or recognizing the
faces one moment you could be watching
two young soldiers sharing a kick the
next moment you'll be seeing a group of
deserters trying to run away
by the time we come back to the young
soldiers it's already 20 minutes later
even if you remember who they are it
hardly matters
one of them is immediately shot dead in
combat his character arc is abruptly cut
short
such is the reality of war
is both its greatest weakness and
strength the film is often criticized
for having weak characterizations which
is a fair assessment is hard to latch
onto any single character
but i think it is an intentional choice
instead of this character wants to run
away
it can be read as
there are people who try to run away
it feels like reading a historical
document it doesn't feel immersive it
doesn't feel personal but it feels real
the anonymity is used similarly in
dunkirk
but the 800 dialed it up to 11
is a bold artistic choice that i think
paid off
through anonymity the film specifically
avoids painting a single hero
the arc isn't about any single character
but the squad coming together slowly and
somewhat depressingly accepts the
reality of this suicide mission
history isn't made by the action of a
single man it was paved by the decisions
of countless people
war films always have to walk a fine
line between anti-war and jingoism
he has to entertain an audience through
war without glorifying his brutality
it has to show admirations for the
heroes without coming off as propaganda
for the state
on this the 800 is surprisingly well
done
it's rare to see a war film that spends
time showing the shock of killing people
as fleeting as those moments may be
but it's enough to implant the idea that
war
is not something anyone should go
through
in this scene the troops were ordered to
execute captured japanese soldiers
in such a close distance most could not
bring themselves to do it
and the one who forces himself to pull
the trigger
did so not through anger
but through madness
war is dehumanizing
unlike the old black and white good vs
evil war films the 800 shows no hatred
towards the japanese army is utterly
uninterested in animosity
if there's something this movie hates is
war itself
in this scene the japanese army is about
to blow up the building
guarded by shields bullets does not work
against them
cornered and desperate
some chinese soldiers
begin to retaliate
by dropping bombs onto their bodies
and drum up the building
some may see this as glorification as
jingoism as propaganda
but when i see this soldier's eyes
all i see is a man driven into madness
by war
the music didn't swell up
the people didn't celebrate
the soldiers line up one by one they
jump to the death it is extremely hard
to watch
i almost cried when i saw this
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
not because i was inspired but mostly
because i was shocked scared
i was witnessing something traumatic and
my emotion couldn't handle it
in this film
war is nothing but suffering
[Music]
after holding out for days the japanese
squad leader decided to challenge the
chinese squad to one final battle
at the same time the chinese squad
received an order to retreat across the
bridge into the international
settlements and the battle in defeat
so begins the conversation between a
warrior and a politician
[Music]
there is no glory in war
instead of doing the heroic last battle
to death the squad retreats
still to do so will require some troops
to stay behind volunteering themselves
to provide cover
but the film didn't show their heroic
death either
instead it focuses almost solely on the
main troops escape attempt
after showing us the madness and
desperation that throw people to
sacrifice themselves the film refrains
from the further glorification of death
it wants to tell us that there is value
in survival
the film doesn't want you to die for
your country
he doesn't want you to chase after glory
it doesn't want war
as the final shot of the film shows the
bola riddled warehouse still stands
surrounded by the prosperous modern day
shanghai
the 800s wants you to remember
here stood the heroes who made history
the 800 currently stands at a
respectable 7.6 rating which i think is
fair
it's certainly not a perfect film the
second half of the film doesn't flow as
well when the soldier starts coming
together the film retreats back into a
more formulaic format
the climactic retreat also tries too
hard to be emotional with full epic
orchestra and excessive slow motion it
backfires and undermines the tone it
established previously
in an effort to maybe get past the
sensors close-up shots of the republic
flag are also curiously missing it can
be pretty on the nose with its metaphors
and message and the color grading is
also a bit much
but the 800 is one of those films that
with time will likely grow on me
this is a film about heroes about the
tragedy behind this title his core
message is so strong his depiction of
war is so sharp for a mainstream
blockbuster i think i can forgive its
shortcomings
the film was released in the middle of a
pandemic with minimal publicity yet
through word of mouth it managed to
become the highest grossing film of
2020.
clearly it resonated with the chinese
audience
people keep talking about it viewers
requested this video multiple times
and i have been thinking about this film
ever since i saw it
in my eyes a movie got people talking
this much
it's a movie well worth watching
[Music]