''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 go ...

. 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 naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that wa ...

, 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 Musical is the adjective of music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact def ...

. 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 a ...

.Zhang & Xiao, p. 119. The film was

remade Bas-Lag is the fictional world in which several of English author China Miéville's novels are set. Bas-Lag is a world where both magic (referred to as "thaumaturgy") and steampunk technology exist, and is home to many intelligent races. It is in ...

in 2007 as an animated tale.

Plot

The film tells the story of Pan Dongzi, a teenager and son of a

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

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 The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. Th ...

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, ...

, 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 language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

'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 Thea ...

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