General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20266 min read

Sacrifice (2020 film)

Sacrifice (金刚川, Jin Gang Chuan) is a 2020 Chinese war drama directed by Guan Hu, Frant Gwo, and Lu Yang, set during the Korean War and depicting Chinese People's Volunteer Army soldiers defending a bridge across the Jin Gang Chuan river under American air attack¹^•²^•³. It was made on a compressed schedule for the 70th anniversary of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army entering the war, opening in China on October 23, 2020, and earning $53.0 million in its first three days⁴^•¹.

Key fact	Detail
Native title	金刚川 (Jin Gang Chuan), the name of the river in the story; English release title Sacrifice²
Directors	Guan Hu (The Eight Hundred), Frant Gwo (The Wandering Earth), and Lu Yang (Brotherhood of Blades), each handling one of three points of view¹^•⁵
Cast	Zhang Yi, Wu Jing, Li Jiuxiao, Wei Chen, and Deng Chao; Vladimir Ershov as the American pilot⁶^•⁷
Setting	July 12–13, 1953, during the Battle of Kumsong, the last battle before the 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement⁶
Production speed	Principal photography began August 6, 2020; the film opened 78 days later, with 2,600 visual-effects artists working on post-production⁴
Box office	$53.0 million (over 350 million yuan) in the first three days, per Artisan Gateway¹
Release	China-only theatrical release; 122-minute runtime¹^•²

Spoilers

Plot and narrative structure

The film covers a single stretch of time, from the afternoon of July 12, 1953, to 6:00 AM on July 13, as Volunteer Army soldiers repeatedly rebuild a bridge across the Jin Gang Chuan river so that troops and supplies can reach the front, while American aircraft bomb it³.

Four chapters, three viewpoints. The story is a group portrait without an absolute protagonist, divided into four chapters titled "Soldiers," "The Opponent" ("Enemy" in the academic account), "The Anti-Aircraft Gun Squad," and "The Bridge"⁸^•³. The same events are recounted through the primary perspectives of the Volunteer Army infantry, the anti-aircraft artillery unit, and the American pilot, with each point of view handled by one of the three directors⁸^•⁵. The structure was compared to Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk⁵. The film was reportedly shot in three weeks, and the first three chapters each rewind to recount the same sequence of events before a human-bridge climax⁷.

Director Guo Fan (Frant Gwo) framed the approach with the statement "Repairing a bridge is also part of the war," and said the film focuses on ordinary soldiers' brotherhood rather than huge battles⁵. Guan Hu explained the theme as "Every individual sacrifice is valuable"⁸.

Cast

The film teams veteran actors Zhang Yi, Wu Jing, Li Jiuxiao, and Wei Chen, with Deng Chao also starring⁶. The American pilot is played by the Russian actor Vladimir Ershov⁷. Zhang Yi and Wu Jing trained on anti-aircraft gun operation half a month before shooting, learning loading, chambering, and firing, and visited anti-aircraft guns actually used 70 years earlier³.

Production

The project was initiated in mid-June 2020, less than four months before October 25, 2020, the 70th anniversary of the Volunteer Army's entry into the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, the name used in China for the Korean War³^•¹. The screenwriting team completed the first draft in under half a month, using a tabular, spreadsheet-format script³.

Compressed schedule. Principal photography began on August 6, 2020, and the film reached theaters on October 23, just 78 days later⁴. The production assembled 1,174 actors, 2,479 crew members, and 2,600 special-effects personnel³. A team of 2,600 artists worked around the clock on the effects and finished early enough that the release was pushed up two days⁴. China was the only territory where the film received a theatrical release¹.

Historical background

Taking place on July 12, 1953, one day into the Battle of Kumsong, the story unfolds during that conflict's second day, the final engagement preceding the 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement⁶. The bridge in the story spans a torrent river with a widest part of around 60 meters and a depth of up to four meters, and was the only route to transport thousands of Chinese soldiers and military vehicles to the Kumsong battlefield⁶.

Release and box office

The film premiered in Beijing on October 21, 2020, and opened across China on October 23, timed to the anniversary commemorations⁹^•⁶. In its first three days it earned $53.0 million (over 350 million yuan) according to Artisan Gateway, with a per-screen average of $422 on Saturday¹; the Global Times put the weekend estimate at 360 million yuan ($53.8 million)⁵. Outside China, the film later received internet releases in Poland on July 29, 2021, and in Germany on August 1, 2022, with a German Blu-ray and DVD release on August 11, 2022⁹.

Reception

The film topped the Chinese box office on its first day⁶ and scored 9.4 out of 10 on the ticketing platform Maoyan and 9.5 on Taopiaopiao⁵.

Critical division. International criticism targeted the structure and the portrayal of the American side: the reviewer at Asian Film Strike found that having each of the first three chapters recount the same events, rewinding each time, did not work in the film's favor, and called the second chapter a cartoonish portrayal of the US side through a grimacing American pilot wearing a stetson⁷. The same review praised the cinematography by Luo Pan, Liu Yin, Han Qiming, and Gao Weizhe as uniform and superb, with earthly tones and striking red-and-gold night scenes⁷. Chinese commentary was also mixed: Peking University's School of Journalism and Communication observed that the repeated emphasis across segments gives the film a circular structure reflected in its English title, while the film critic Yu Yaqin commented that the film portrays the opponent simplistically and incites hatred through bloody visual impact while ending in emptiness³.

Context in Chinese war cinema

The film draws on earlier Chinese Korean War cinema. Its central struggle, protecting a bridge long enough for a relief army to cross, parallels the 1960 film Raid, with the two sides reversed; its portrayal of soldiers owes much to 1956's Shangganling, a tale of stoic troops under siege; and its titular sacrifice echoes 1964's Heroic Sons and Daughters⁴. Unlike earlier Chinese war films focused on milestone events or historic figures, it centers on ordinary soldiers repairing a bridge under American bombing⁶. Its rushed production and anniversary timing tied its release to the official commemorations of the 70th anniversary of the Volunteer Army entering the war¹^•³.

References

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026