Assembly

Director: Feng Xiaogang

Screenwriter: Liu Heng

Starring: Deng Chao, Ren Quan, Wang Baoqiang, Liao Fan, Zhang Hanyu, Li Naiwen, Tang Yan, Yuan Wenkang

Release Date: December 20, 2007

Genre: Drama, War

Region: Mainland China

Language: Mandarin

Duration: 120 minutes

Plot Introduction

This film is adapted from Yang Jinyuan's novel "The Lawsuit". The story takes place between 1948 and 1956, where all the soldiers of a company were killed in action but no one knew about it. The film reveals the bravery and touching stories of these soldiers through the process of searching and tracing. During the Liberation War, Captain Gu of the First Company received an order from the commander of the Third Regiment to lead his soldiers to rush to the position to complete a sniper mission so that the main force could safely withdraw. They agreed that after hearing the assembly call, the First Company could break through and withdraw. But the whole company never heard the sound of the assembly call. Except for Captain Gu who was saved by a local villager, all the other soldiers were killed in action. Since then, finding the commander and asking why the assembly call wasn't blown became Captain Gu's lifelong pursuit. Decades later, he learned that the regiment commander had already been sacrificed on the battlefield in Korea long ago. The commander's guard revealed the secret: when the main force was transferring, the commander never let the bugler blow the whistle, and it was already decided to sacrifice the First Company in order to ensure the safe transfer of the main force. Until his last moment, the commander still felt guilty and repentant about his decision. Captain Gu eventually forgave the commander. "Assembly Call" tells the story: An old man loves to listen to the army's assembly call, and when asked why, he told his personal experience. In one battle, the order from above was for a company of soldiers to hold out for four hours and retreat at the sound of the assembly call, but after waiting for twelve hours, the assembly call was never sounded.