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Devils on the Doorstep

EMAILPRINTCowboy Pictures

Devils on the Doorstep reviews
70
9.2 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 7 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 4 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): War

Written by: Wen Jiang (also story)
Haiying Li, Xing Liu, Jianquan Shi
Ping Shu (also story)
Fengwei You (also novella Shengcun)

Directed by: Wen Jiang

Release Date:
Theatrical: December 18, 2002
DVD: April 19, 2005

Running Time: 140 minutes, B/W / Color

Origin: China

Summary

RATING: Not Rated

Starring Wen Jiang, Hongbo Jiang, Teruyuki Kagawa, Ding Yuan, Zhijun Cong, Zi Xi, Haibin Li, and Kenya Sawada

By turns an elaborate wartime drama of China, suffering under Japanese occupation during the 1930s and 40s, and an absurdist comedy of madness, cultural disconnects and historical booby-traps that Samuel Beckett would recognize in an instant. (Film Forum)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

90

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Though shorn of 20 minutes for its U.S. debut, the film's wry comic portrait of the Japanese Occupation during WWII hasn't lost any of its incendiary brilliance, both as a political provocation and as a brusquely humane take on the horrors and absurdity of war.

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80

TV Guide Ken Fox

Jiang draws a great deal of humor from the situation, but the film inevitably explodes in terrible violence.

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80

The New York Times Stephen Holden

In its dry and forceful way, it delivers the same message as Jiri Menzel's "Closely Watched Trains" and Danis Tanovic's "No Man's Land." While acknowledging that war is hell, it goes further to suggest it is ludicrous.

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75

New York Post V.A. Musetto

A wild ride that effortlessly combines devilish dark humor, slapstick comedy, extreme violence and bitter satire.

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75

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

Jiang's razor-sharp conclusions are less about the Japanese army or the Chinese government than about simple human nature.

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50

Village Voice Dennis Lim

By the final shot, which assumes the viewpoint of a decapitated head, its appalled comedy has swelled, beyond outrage, to a pitch of punch-drunk hysteria.

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50

Variety Derek Elley

Has all the classic faults of a picture not only directed by an actor but by an actor who is his own producer.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 9.2 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

ryan m. gave it a10:
Dialogue that is both riveting and funny. Imagery that is both subtle and awesome. Few movies have so thoroughly engrossed me as this one. Perhaps if I knew more about the historical subject matter I could understand why the "critics" have lambasted this movie . . . but I don't. As a semi-informed movie viewer I was very impressed with this movie and moved by the ending.

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