I’m sure there are many versions and/or variations of how the seven kingdoms eventually become China. IMHO Little, Big Soldier is as beautiful a version/variation as there is.
According to the film, the seven kingdoms became China because a farmer and a prince exchanged roles in terms of their deepest held convictions. The farmer wants to live, embracing peace, understanding, and sensible compromise. The prince wants to live too but to live proudly and honorably even if that means war and death.
It’s hard not to empathize with the farmer, but by film’s end, as the credits role, you can’t help but to see how right the prince was to do as he had done despite the destruction of his army and the suffering of his people. To live in peace means very little without pride and honor. So much for the film’s thematic content. Cinematography-wise, the film is first rate, even breathtaking. The OST is impressionable, and the acting...Well what can I say? Jackie Chan is so likable, and he was especially so in his moments of repose when he would persuade Wang Leehom, who plays the Wei crowned prince, of life's preciousness.
A fellow reviewer mentioned that this film was a labor of love, that Jackie Chan had spent decades trying to get it on film. I'm grateful that the "greatest action star in film" was as stubborn and as dogged as he was.
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