New film shows not all cinematic heroes wear capes

It was an early spring day in April, but director An Zhanjun felt as if it was the middle of a chilly winter when he scaled the Kunlun Mountains to visit police officers who guard a section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the highest in the world.

At the police station, located on a site where the elevation reaches more than 4,000 meters above sea level, the filmmaker found the person he was looking for.

It was Yang Fuxiang, a stoic brigade leader who, for 13 years, has endured loneliness and extreme weather while manning his post on the snow-capped mountains.

In 2017, Yang was honored as one of the 10 most loyal police officers as part of an annual selection by the Chinese People's Armed Police Force.

His wife, who lost a leg in a car crash, but still selflessly supports her husband by painstakingly taking care of the family, was also awarded by the force.

"Most people may feel uncomfortable and suffer shortness of breath after just spending a short time at an altitude surpassing 4,000 meters. It's hard to believe, and I found it admirable that Yang has stayed there for so many years," says the director, in an interview with China Daily.

"You see very few creatures at such a high altitude. When the officers teasingly told me that there are only two seasons on the mountain－winter and 'a winter-like season'－I could not laugh out but I just felt very touched," he adds.

Recently at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, alongside his actors, An attended the opening ceremony of his new film, Warriors of Honor, recalling his interviews with the police heroes who inspired it.

The movie, which won the Golden Angel award at the annual 15th China American Film Festival held in Los Angeles in November, debuted in China on Dec 5.

An says it was a senior officer who suggested he should shoot a movie about police heroes, many of whom have tear-jerking stories.

After interviewing a lot of people and reading related news reports, from April to October, An led his crew across seven provinces and cities－including Shanghai, Fujian and Shaanxi provinces－shooting the film among China's diverse landscapes.

Aside from Yang and his wife, the film which consists three parallel short tales also focuses on another police officer's hunt for a drug-trafficking ring in Yunnan province, and a cancer-diagnosed officer who rescues villagers trapped in a mudslide in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Both of the other two stories are loosely inspired by real-life events.

An reveals the first of the other two tales is inspired by Wang Gang, who was awarded an Order of August First, the country's top military honor. The Chinese People's Armed Police Force is part of the country's armed forces under the command of the Central Military Commission.

"Wang is a very brave and awesome man. He once led his men to hunt a group of terrorists deep in the Tianshan Mountains for 56 days. When the targets were found hidden in a cave, Wang was the first to enter the cave with a submachine gun to shoot the terrorists at close quarters," says An.

Actor Li Qi, who plays the character inspired by Wang, says he was sent to an armed police base in Kunming, the provincial capital of Yunnan, to undergo harsh physical training, including carrying 15 kilograms of equipment while walking and running for more than 10 hours every day.

The third story is inspired by Li Baobao, a 27-year-old officer who insisted on working as a front line officer despite being in the late stage of lung cancer. He died in April 2018.

Zhong Chengxiang, chairman of China Literature and Art Critics Association, says the movie exemplifies domestic filmmakers' new effort to seek inspiration from real-life stories.

"During this year's National Day holiday, three blockbusters－My People, My Country, The Captain and The Climbers, all adapted from real stories－received unprecedented popularity. I hope we'll see more films that highlight real-life heroes," he says.