World War II · Film · 2020
The Eight Hundred
八佰
As the Battle of Shanghai is lost, a few hundred Chinese soldiers are left to hold a concrete warehouse on Suzhou Creek, fighting in full view of the neutral International Settlement across the water.
Where it happened
Follow the story across 2 places.
Stop 1: Sihang Warehouse, Zhabei
Key location
Stragglers and raw recruits are pulled into the fortified warehouse, where the battalion fights off wave after wave of Japanese assaults.
Stop 2: International Settlement, south bank of Suzhou Creek
Across the creek, the neon-lit neutral zone watches the battle like a spectacle until the soldiers are ordered to cross over.
What really happened
The Battle of Shanghai began on 13 August 1937 and lasted three months, drawing hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops into a brutal fight against Japanese forces. When the Chinese army pulled back from the Zhabei district in late October, Lieutenant Colonel Xie Jinyuan and about 420 men of the 524th Regiment, 88th Division, were ordered to hold the Sihang Warehouse as a rearguard; to deceive the Japanese they were announced as eight hundred.
From 26 October to 1 November 1937 the defenders held the six-storey building while crowds and foreign journalists watched from the International Settlement across Suzhou Creek; a Girl Guide, Yang Huimin, brought them a Chinese flag that flew from the roof. They then withdrew into the Settlement, where the British interned them. The film adds invented characters and a heavily dramatised dash across the bridge, but keeps the setting and the propaganda purpose of the stand.
Where to watch
Checking streaming services…
Full details
- Original title
- 八佰
- Directed by
- Guan Hu
- Countries
- China
- Languages
- Chinese, Japanese, English
- Released
- 2020
- Period
- –
- Theaters of war
- China & Southeast Asia
- Themes
- Combat
- True story
