# Devils on the Doorstep (鬼子来了)
**Devils on the Doorstep** (鬼子来了) is a 2000 Chinese black-and-white comedy-drama directed by [Jiang Wen](https://www.edgepedia.org/jiang-wen), adapted from the novelist You Fengwei's story *Survival* (《生存》), about villagers in occupied Hebei who are forced to keep a Japanese soldier and a Chinese interpreter, leading to their deaths at the hands of the Japanese military[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E3%80%8A%E9%AC%BC%E5%AD%90%E6%9D%A5%E4%BA%86%E3%80%8B/4845622?fromModule=lemma_inlink) • [20](https://history.sffs.org/films/film_details.php?id=1312&searchfield=). It won the [Grand Prix](https://www.edgepedia.org/grand-prix-cannes-film-festival) at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival but has never been approved for public release in mainland China, because Jiang Wen submitted it to Cannes without first passing domestic censorship[2](https://www.festival-cannes.com/f/guizi-lai-le/) • [3](https://m.maoyan.com/moviedp/1262?_v_=yes&channelId=60008).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and lead | Jiang Wen, his second feature film; he also plays the villager Ma Dasan[4](https://sgiff.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/SIFF-2001-1.pdf) • [5](https://www.fandango.com/devils-on-the-doorstep-56101/movie-overview) |
| Source | Adapted from You Fengwei's novel *Survival* (《生存》)[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E3%80%8A%E9%AC%BC%E5%AD%90%E6%9D%A5%E4%BA%86%E3%80%8B/4845622?fromModule=lemma_inlink) |
| Setting | A village in northern Hebei province during the last winter of World War II, shot in black-and-white Cinemascope[4](https://sgiff.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/SIFF-2001-1.pdf) |
| Cannes 2000 | Grand Prix (jury prize) at the 53rd Cannes Film Festival[2](https://www.festival-cannes.com/f/guizi-lai-le/) |
| Other honors | Hawaii International Film Festival Netpac award; Japan's Mainichi Film Award for best foreign film[6](https://fanhall.com/news/entry/10885.html) |
| Runtime | 2 hours 42 minutes per Rotten Tomatoes; the Cannes version is described as 162 minutes, and the IFFR catalog lists 166 minutes[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/devils_on_the_doorstep) • [8](https://tsight.io/articles/1122679) • [9](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2001/films/devils-on-the-doorstep) |
| Status in China | Banned; Jiang Wen was barred from directing for five years after sending the film to Cannes without approval[3](https://m.maoyan.com/moviedp/1262?_v_=yes&channelId=60008) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The story takes place in Guajitai (挂甲台), a village under Japanese occupation in Hebei at the end of the war[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E3%80%8A%E9%AC%BC%E5%AD%90%E6%9D%A5%E4%BA%86%E3%80%8B/4845622?fromModule=lemma_inlink). One night, guerrillas kidnap the Japanese army soldier Kosaburo Hanaya (花屋小三郎) and the interpreter Dong Hanchen (董汉臣), bind them, stuff them into sacks, and leave them at the house of the peasant Ma Dasan, ordering him to keep them safe until the men come to collect them on [New Year's Eve](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-years-eve)[3](https://m.maoyan.com/moviedp/1262?_v_=yes&channelId=60008).
Ma Dasan is terrified but dares not refuse. He repeatedly tries to get rid of the two prisoners, hesitates out of fear, and ends up hiding and feeding them for half a year, a situation that leads to tragedy for him and the whole village[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E3%80%8A%E9%AC%BC%E5%AD%90%E6%9D%A5%E4%BA%86%E3%80%8B/4845622?fromModule=lemma_inlink). The villagers trade the prisoners back to the Japanese army for grain, and the arrangement ends in a massacre. In the aftermath, Ma Dasan is executed by beheading on the order of a Nationalist officer for killing surrendered Japanese soldiers[10](https://epaper.oss-cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com/jsgrb/2021-10-23/5180ffd9adddae3301b7a4c2a64b023b.pdf).
The prisoner Hanaya changes over the course of the story: the fierce soldier who at first wants to die for the emperor becomes, after months in the villagers' care, a man who wants only to live[10](https://epaper.oss-cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com/jsgrb/2021-10-23/5180ffd9adddae3301b7a4c2a64b023b.pdf).
### Interpretation
Chinese scholars have read the film as a departure from the standard war narrative. A 2005 study in the *Journal of Hainan Normal University* described it as stripping away political embellishment to reconstruct a version of historical truth, examining the real condition of the "silent majority" in wartime, and probing the national characters of both China and Japan[15](https://hlsy.cbpt.cnki.net/portal/journal/portal/client/paper/24366e22c9498b73b25dd1db94be8ba6). Another 2005 article called it a film of extraordinary content and multiple interpretations, tracing its meaning to the [Lu Xun](https://www.edgepedia.org/lu-xun) tradition of critique of national character and describing its fate as an instance of the tension between an author's management of meaning and society's reading[16](https://gbdd.cbpt.cnki.net/portal/journal/portal/client/paper/b9a2b6f418946965a02f982d099d8b49). A film historian's 2014 lecture at Renmin University argued that the ban showed that in China artistic truthfulness must submit to ideology, rooted in the struggle between the "praise" and "exposure" lines[17](https://www.pornwm.org/xwgg/xw/e3d0dda2b9ec48138c6b461de13d4e6f.htm).
The film's place in Jiang Wen's career has also been framed by the ban itself. The screenwriter [Shu Ping](https://www.edgepedia.org/shu-ping) told him, "You closed the door of twentieth-century Chinese film with *Devils on the Doorstep*"[18](https://i.ifeng.com/c/86y2yWYyYIM), and Jiang Wen has recounted a comment that, after making the film, he walked the same path as his character Ma Dasan in early twenty-first-century China, having taken on two sacks and brought down a pile of trouble on himself[19](https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1286637).
## Cast and production
Jiang Wen plays Ma Dasan; Jiang Hongbo (姜鸿波) plays Yu'er (鱼儿), Teruyuki Kagawa (香川照之) plays the Japanese soldier Kosaburo Hanaya, and Ding Yuan plays the translator Dong Hanchen[5](https://www.fandango.com/devils-on-the-doorstep-56101/movie-overview). The credited screenwriters are You Fengwei, Shi Jianquan, Shu Ping, and Jiang Wen, and the music is by the rock musician Cui Jian[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/devils_on_the_doorstep) • [5](https://www.fandango.com/devils-on-the-doorstep-56101/movie-overview).
The production was large for its subject: Jiang Wen said the film had more than 20 named roles and used over 500,000 feet of film, with Japanese actors requiring translation and mediation[11](https://ent.sina.com.cn/film/old/5783.html). Jiang Hongbo said she spent roughly two years on the role, from experiencing village life to revising dialogue and shooting, and that Yu'er remained her signature part[12](https://news.sina.cn/sa/2004-03-19/detail-ikknscsi2872381.d.html?vt=4). The film also cast two veteran actors from older Chinese anti-Japanese war films, Chen Qiang and [Chen Shu](https://www.edgepedia.org/chen-shu), in cameo roles[6](https://fanhall.com/news/entry/10885.html).
## Censorship and ban
The film was completed in 1998 as a co-production. The Film Bureau issued several revision opinions on the script, but Jiang Wen sent the film to Cannes before receiving approval, and after returning with the Grand Prix he did not resubmit it[12](https://news.sina.cn/sa/2004-03-19/detail-ikknscsi2872381.d.html?vt=4).
The Film Censorship Committee's written opinion, later published, states that the film failed to follow the approved project's revision requirements, was shot without a filed script, and added dialogue and scenes without authorization. It objected that the film did not show Chinese villagers' hatred of and resistance to the invaders, noting that the only character who dared curse and resist the Japanese army was a madman the villagers found annoying, and that the film instead highlighted the villagers' ignorance, numbness, and servility. It also objected that the film did not fully expose [Japanese militarism](https://www.edgepedia.org/japanese-militarism) but instead emphasized the invaders' swagger, and cited vulgar language, repeated use of the slur "支那猪" in the mouths of Japanese soldiers, and female nudity as failing the censorship standard[13](https://omeka.minjian-danganguan.org/files/original/044b222126c6f94098e002de9e4f6a8a85ad6bab.pdf).
In 2002, a report quoted the film bureau chief as saying the film was being revised and could be released once fixed, but Jiang Wen said he had received no revision notice; the producer Dong Ping said the film objectively reflected the Japanese invasion and Chinese behavior at the time, and that the filmmakers and authorities needed to find common ground[14](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2002-06-20/88125.html). A 2004 report on a renewed submission found that the film bureau's arts office said it knew nothing of the submission or of whether the film had ever passed censorship[12](https://news.sina.cn/sa/2004-03-19/detail-ikknscsi2872381.d.html?vt=4). The film remains banned in mainland China[3](https://m.maoyan.com/moviedp/1262?_v_=yes&channelId=60008).
## Release and reception abroad
The film premiered at Cannes in May 2000, where it shared the festival's honors with two other Chinese-language films: Yang Dechang's *Yi Yi* won best director and Tony Leung won best actor for *In the Mood for Love*[6](https://fanhall.com/news/entry/10885.html). It was released in Japan on April 27, 2002, where rumors that it could not be shown proved false and it received considerable praise[6](https://fanhall.com/news/entry/10885.html).
Western critics received it well. Rotten Tomatoes records a 92% Tomatometer from 12 reviews and a 95% audience score[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/devils_on_the_doorstep). Stephen Holden of *The New York Times* compared its message to Jiri Menzel's *Closely Watched Trains* and Danis Tanovic's *No Man's Land*; the *Village Voice* noted its rich, shadowy black-and-white photography and its ironic chronicle of reluctant captors and befuddled captives[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/devils_on_the_doorstep).
## References
1. [鬼子来了（2000年姜文执导的电影），百度百科](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E3%80%8A%E9%AC%BC%E5%AD%90%E6%9D%A5%E4%BA%86%E3%80%8B/4845622?fromModule=lemma_inlink)
2. [GUIZI LAI LE (DEVILS ON THE DOOR STEP), Festival de Cannes](https://www.festival-cannes.com/f/guizi-lai-le/)
3. [鬼子来了，猫眼电影](https://m.maoyan.com/moviedp/1262?_v_=yes&channelId=60008)
4. [Asian Films, Singapore International Film Festival 2001 program (PDF)](https://sgiff.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/SIFF-2001-1.pdf)
5. [Devils on the Doorstep, Fandango](https://www.fandango.com/devils-on-the-doorstep-56101/movie-overview)
6. [《鬼子来了》版本完全考，现象网](https://fanhall.com/news/entry/10885.html)
7. [Devils on the Doorstep, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/devils_on_the_doorstep)
8. [《鬼子来了》：戛纳162分钟，不止一个真相，TrueSight](https://tsight.io/articles/1122679)
9. [Devils on the Doorstep, International Film Festival Rotterdam](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2001/films/devils-on-the-doorstep)
10. [《鬼子来了》相关报道，江苏工人报电子版 (PDF)](https://epaper.oss-cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com/jsgrb/2021-10-23/5180ffd9adddae3301b7a4c2a64b023b.pdf)
11. [姜文谈新片《鬼子来了》：被禁映纯属瞎猜，新浪娱乐](https://ent.sina.com.cn/film/old/5783.html)
12. [再度修改送审电影局《鬼子来了》有望国内公映？，新浪新闻](https://news.sina.cn/sa/2004-03-19/detail-ikknscsi2872381.d.html?vt=4)
13. [广电总局电影审查委员会关于《鬼子来了》的审查意见（民间历史档案 PDF）](https://omeka.minjian-danganguan.org/files/original/044b222126c6f94098e002de9e4f6a8a85ad6bab.pdf)
14. [电影局让修改《鬼子来了》？姜文称未接到通知，新浪娱乐](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2002-06-20/88125.html)
15. [李萍：质疑与颠覆——关于《鬼子来了》去意识形态倾向的分析，海南师范大学学报（社会科学版）2005年第6期](https://hlsy.cbpt.cnki.net/portal/journal/portal/client/paper/24366e22c9498b73b25dd1db94be8ba6)
16. [胡谱忠：潜伏的异端：《鬼子来了》的意义调度，内蒙古开放大学学报2005年第2期](https://gbdd.cbpt.cnki.net/portal/journal/portal/client/paper/b9a2b6f418946965a02f982d099d8b49)
17. [文化发展与电影管理——以《鬼子来了》为例，中国人民大学文学院](https://www.pornwm.org/xwgg/xw/e3d0dda2b9ec48138c6b461de13d4e6f.htm)
18. [先生制造｜姜文问述平，您愿意当作家还是编剧？，凤凰网](https://i.ifeng.com/c/86y2yWYyYIM)
19. [专访｜姜文：演毛泽东太难了，我是不敢去碰这件事儿，澎湃新闻](https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1286637)
20. [Devils on the Doorstep, San Francisco Film Festival](https://history.sffs.org/films/film_details.php?id=1312&searchfield=)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › War and historical films (individual works) › War action and adventure › War action films released since 2000 › Released 2000 to 2016*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license