''Bridge'' () (also known as ''The Bridge'') is a 1949 Chinese

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that war fi ...

made shortly after the

Chinese Communist Revolution The Chinese Communist Revolution, officially known as the Chinese People's War of Liberation in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and also known as the National Protection War against the Communist Rebellion in the Republic of China (ROC ...

; as such, it is considered the first feature film completed after the founding of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. As a film, ''Bridge'' set many of the themes that would dominate the Socialist cinema of post-1949 China, including the glorification of the worker and the conversion of the intellectual to Communism.Zhang, p. 192.

Plot

During the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...

, a railroad factory is commissioned by the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

to repair a bridge. Led by a skeptical engineer who does not believe the bridge can be completed in time, the factory workers lack enthusiasm and morale. The project is galvanized, however, by the work of Liang Ruisheng ( Wang Jiayi), who inspires his fellow workers to complete the project for the war effort. In the process, even the engineer is converted.

References

;Sources *Berry, Chris. ''Postsocialist cinema in post-Mao China: the cultural revolution after the cultural revolution''. Routledge (2004). . *Zhang, Yingjin. ''Chinese national cinema''. Routledge (2004). .

External links

*
''Bridge''
at the Chinese Movie Database 1949 films 1940s Mandarin-language films 1940s war drama films Chinese black-and-white films Chinese war drama films 1949 drama films {{1940s-China-film-stub