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Devils on the Doorstep
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 7 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 4 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
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
Language(s): Manadarin Chinese and Japanese (with English subtitles)
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)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Film Forum Profile
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...
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.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Ken Fox
Jiang draws a great deal of humor from the situation, but the film inevitably explodes in terrible violence.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >New York Post V.A. Musetto
A wild ride that effortlessly combines devilish dark humor, slapstick comedy, extreme violence and bitter satire.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
