"THE EIGHT HUNDRED" is an unusual 1 Chinese film for its depiction of Nationalist soldiers as heroes in a grinding battle against Japanese invaders in 1937. The Nationalists, or Kuomintang, fought a long on-off civil war against the Communist Party and so are typically portrayed as villains and stooges on Chinese screens. From a global perspective, the film is unusual for a different reason. It is that rarest of things in these covid-clouded times: a box-office hit. Released a month ago, it has pulled in nearly 3bn yuan ($440m), propelling Chinese cinemas to their best showing by far since January, when the country went into near-total lockdown.
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