''The Chainbreakers'' () is a 2017 Chinese

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

-themed

epic film Epic films have large scale, sweeping scope, and spectacle. The term is slightly ambiguous, sometimes designating a film genre and at other times simply big-budget films. Like epics in the classical literary sense, it is often focused on a her ...

co-written and directed by Yang Rui, and stars Tobgyal, Lobsang Namdak, Wang Ziyi, Yang Xiucuo and Ngawang Rinchen. The film was released on December 8, 2017, in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. The film picks up the story of the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

(PLA) soldier Hua Shan participated in the

annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China Tibet came under the control of China, People's Republic of China (PRC) after the Ganden Phodrang, Government of Tibet signed the Seventeen Point Agreement which the 14th Dalai Lama ratified on 24 October 1951, but later repudiated on the grou ...

and his contradiction of local Tibetan tribal chief, bandit and butler.

Plot

In the autumn of 1950, the 18th Army of the

(PLA) march to

Chamdo Chamdo, officially Qamdo () and also known in Chinese as Changdu (), is a prefecture-level city in the eastern part of the Tibet Autonomous Region, China. Its seat is the town of Chengguan in Karuo District. Chamdo is Tibet's third largest c ...

from

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

, they plan to annex Tibet and free all the slaves.

Cast

Tobgyal Tobgyal (, born May 1958), also called Duobujie (), is a Chinese actor of Tibetan descent, best known in film for portraying a tribal chief in ''Red River Valley'' (1997), Ri Tai in '' Kekexili: Mountain Patrol'' (2004), and Zhan Tiejun in '' No ...

* Lobsang Namdak * Wang Ziyi as Hua Shan, a soldier of the

(PLA). * Yang Xiucuo *

Ngawang Rinchen Ngawang Rinchen (; ; born 26 February 1984) is a Chinese actor of Tibetan descent. Early life and education Ngawang Rinchen was born in Lhasa, Tibet, China. He graduated from Shanghai Theatre Academy in 2007, where he majored in acting. After gr ...

Production

In 2010, the producers began to negotiate with Yang Rui and Shan Yu, as well as Da Zhen, to write the film. In 2015, Yang Rui was signed to direct the film. This film was shot in

Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), often shortened to Tibet in English or Xizang in Pinyin, Hanyu Pinyin, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China. It was established in 1965 to replace the ...

. The film's major cast members are all Tibetan natives except the lead actor Wang Ziyi.

Release

The film premiered at the

Shanghai International Film Festival The Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF, , French: ''Festival international du film de Shanghai'') is the largest film festival in Asia and China's longest-running international cinema event. The first festival was established in Octobe ...

on June 21, 2017, and opened in China on December 8, 2017. On November 29, 2017, Yang Rui, Tobgyal and Lobsang Namdak attended the premiere for the film at

Beijing Film Academy Beijing Film Academy (BFA; zh, first=s, s=北京电影学院, labels=no) is a municipal public college in Beijing, China. It is affiliated with the City of Beijing and co-funded by the Beijing Municipal People's Government, the National Radio ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chainbreakers, The 2017 films Chinese action films Films about Tibet Films scored by Pinar Toprak Films shot in Tibet Chinese epic films