''Sparkling Red Star'' is a 1974 Chinese film and one of the very few films produced in China during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...

. Co-directed by Li Jun and Li Ang, the film is a mix between a

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...

, a

children's film A children's film, or family film, is a film genre that contains children or relates to them in the context of home and family. Children's films are made specifically for children and not necessarily for a general audience, while family films ar ...

and a musical. Today, given the heavy-handed political message and state control of the ''Sparkling Red Star's'' story and production, it is generally considered a

propaganda film A propaganda film is a film that involves some form of propaganda. Propaganda films spread and promote certain ideas that are usually religious, political, or cultural in nature. A propaganda film is made with the intent that the viewer will ad ...

.Zhang & Xiao, p. 119. The film was remade in 2007 as an animated tale.

Plot

The film tells the story of Pan Dongzi, a teenager and son of a Communist army officer. When the father is called off, he leaves Dongzi a red star as a symbol of the cause. While he is away, a bourgeois

landlord A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant (also a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). When a juristic person is in this position, t ...

, Hu Hansan, returns to Dongzi's village where he exacts revenge upon the peasants who had forced him out. In the process, Dongzi's mother is burned to death in their home. Hardened by his mother's death, Dongzi joins a band of guerrilla fighters and eventually kills his former landlord. When his father finally returns, Dongzi joins him as the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

's newest recruit in the fight against the Japanese during

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

Notes

References

*Zhang, Yingjin & Xiao, Zhiwei. ''Encyclopedia of Chinese Film''. Taylor & Francis (1998). .

External links

''Sparkling Red Star''
at the Chinese Movie Database 1974 films Chinese war films Chinese children's films Chinese propaganda films Maoist China propaganda films Guerrilla warfare in film {{China-film-stub