Sons of the Good Earth (1965)
"Da di er nu" (original title)

Director:

King Hu

Writers:

Kang Cheng, King Hu

Stars:

Peter Chen Ho, Betty Loh Ti, Pao-Shu Kao

2 wins.

Cast

Credited cast:
Peter Chen Ho	...	Yu Rui
Betty Loh Ti	...	Lotus / He Hua
Pao-Shu Kao	...	Brothel Owner
Kuang Chao Chiang	...	Chang Bao Lu
Kun Li	...	Guan San Sheng
Feng Tien	...	Tian De Gui
Ming Lei	...	Lei Xiao Gu
Ying Lee	...	Mr. Li
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Chih-pin Chang
Paul Chang	...	Zhang
Pei-Shan Chang	...	Zhao Gang
Hsiung Chao	...	Japanese Commandant
Yanyan Chen	...	Mrs. Tien (as Yen-yen Chen)
Patsy Chia-ling
Han Chin

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

love | republican era china | sino japanese war | patriotism | occupation | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Romance | War

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Details

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin

Release Date:

19 March 1965 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

Sons of the Good Earth

Company Credits

Production Co:

Shaw Brothers

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

User Reviews

Sino-Japanese War movie is early King Hu.

If it wasn't the first major film of the director of TOUCH OF ZEN and the rest, this would be a forgettable war movie, importing the clichés of Hollywood into the Hong Kong scene.

There are few faces familiar from the major Shaw Brothers movies and only the wide spaced pieces of local colour to suggest King Hu's participation. It's rather short on barbarous atrocities too - one wagon load of grass mat wrapped beheaded bodies and a lecherous commander.

That said, the pacing is good and the scope screen is always filling with movement and detail, which distract from the unconvincing story line. The big action finale manages to produce a few authentic WW2 automatic weapons and the makers do confront the implausibility of a peasant militia with hand guns taking on well armed troops.

I've seen worse.