War film marks cinema's return to frontline

Within 18 months, the crew built a replica of the warehouse, over 60 buildings, and dug a trench to introduce water from nearby Yangcheng Lake, turning it into a 200-meter-long "river", which is shown in the movie as a section of the Suzhou River. The warehouse stood on its north bank and on the other side were the foreign concessions.

Entirely filmed with state-of-the-art IMAX cameras, the first time in China, the film was shot over 230 days in a location covering an area of more than 130,000 square meters in suburban Suzhou, Jiangsu province, between September 2017 and April 2018.

Cao Yu, one of China's best film photographers known for hits such as Legend of the Demon Cat, served as director of photography and led a team of over 170 members.

"I believe The Eight Hundred is more like a poem, about a small group of people who win back Chinese dignity and confidence through their redemption and sacrifice," says Cao.

With an ensemble cast varying between established actors, such as Wang Qianyuan and Zhang Yi, to pop idols like Ou Hao, the film continues to feature director Guan's narrative style to reflect a special era through grassroots people.