Heng kong chu shi

Great looking but a bit too clinical story of China's quest for an atomic bomb. The story of how China managed to get their own nuclear bomb is told in such away as to ring a great deal of emotion out of it.

The film is clearly meant to be propaganda of both the "aren't we great" sort as well as a justification for China proceeding onward in order to gain some respect and prestige in the world and the attitudes often get in the way of any real emotions. The equating of bombs and respect in the world is a frightening idea especially considering the situation in the world as I write this (ie. Iran and North Korea pushing to make bombs and missiles).

This one doesn't look like any Chinese film I've ever seen and is very Western in style and structure. Its an absolutely beautiful movie to look at with the desert vistas looking perhaps a bit too perfect to have really looked like that. Unfortunately the film often bogs down as the pretty vistas become backgrounds in which "discussions" occur. I enjoyed what I saw but after a while I craved something with more action.

This isn't to say this is a bad movie, its not. There is an interesting story here, its just not been invested with a great deal of real emotion. Worth seeing if you want to see how the Chinese came to make their bomb, or if you want a good (though far from great) Chinese movie that doesn't involve action or scary monsters.