Wartime dramas blend history and high ratings

With this year marking the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45), the National Radio and Television Administration — the country's top sector regulator — has organized experts from multiple fields ranging from military history to artistic creation to support the production of several TV series, according to a seminar recently held in Beijing.

Xia Xiaohui, deputy head of the TV drama and documentary center at China Media Group, highlighted three such dramas — Our Homeland, The Long Way Back, and Zhen Di (The Stand) — adding that their ratings have far surpassed those with similar themes. The popularity is partly due to their stellar A-list casts.

Our Homeland chronicles the eight-year struggle of a small county against Japanese invaders and draws heavily on historical records and archives from Shandong province authorities, said its scriptwriter, Liu Gejian.

Speaking about her role in Our Homeland as a county governor's daughter who becomes a member of the Communist Party of China, actress Chen Yuqi said she has gained a new understanding of the women's liberation movement and how it motivated many women to join the fight against the Japanese invaders.

Mao Yi, chief producer of The Long Way Back, said the project was launched two years ago after he received a 400,000-word script from renowned scriptwriter Gao Mantang, who had spent 15 years researching the Northeast United Resistance Army — a CPC-led force in northeastern China.

Actress Wang Likun, who plays a CPC undercover agent, recalls that she and fellow crew members visited the descendants of her character's real-life archetype, An'e — an artist and the wife of renowned playwright Tian Han — and read books and biographies about the female hero.