ACF 1728: North American theatrical release of "BACK TO 1942" to begin November 30th, 2012

China Lion Film Distribution

Presents

Landlord Fan (Zhang Guoli) journeys across the famine-plagued frontier.

Back to 1942

Directed by Feng Xiaogang

China, 2012, 146 minutes

International version: Mandarin with English

and Traditional Chinese subtitles

Back to 1942, an epic film about a terrible famine that struck Henan province in China during World War II, will begin its North American theatrical release next Friday, November 30th, 2012 in select cities which are listed at the end of this post.

The famine began in 1942 and lasted until the spring of 1944. The primary cause of the famine was a severe drought, but the situation was made worse by, among other things, locusts, the ongoing war between Japan and China, and the incompetence if not outright corruption of the ruling Kuomintang government. More than 10 million fled the province and approximately 3 million people died.

The film focuses on two families from Henan, the wealthy family of Landlord Fan and that of one of his tenants, as they join the phalanx of refugees trudging along the roads leading to Shaanxi, where they hope to find relief. Adrien Brody has a significant role as Theodore H. White, who reported on the situation for Time magazine. Tim Robbins has a smaller roll as Father Thomas Megan, a Catholic priest who, like White, had great sympathy for the plight of the Chinese.

I'll be posting a full review at 24framespersecond next week.  I'll either cross-post it here or just put up a brief post with a link to that review. For now, let me just say that this is a film worth seeing.

Here are the places where Back to 1942 will be shown:

Los Angeles Area
AMC Atlantic Times Square 14
450 N. Atlantic Ave.
Monterey Park, CA 91754
(888) 262-4386

Cinemark Century Stadium 25 and XD
1701 W. Katella Ave.
Orange, CA 92867
(714) 532-9558

AMC Puente Hills 20
150 S. Azusa Ave.
City of Industry, CA 91748
(888) 262-4386

New York
AMC Empire 25
234 West 42nd Street
New York, NY 10036
(888) 262-4386

AMC Village VII
66 Third Ave (11th Street)
New York, NY 10003
(888) 262-4386

San Francisco Area
Century 20 Great Mall and XD
1010 Great Mall Drive
Milpitas, CA 95035
(408) 942-7441

AMC Mercado 20
3111 Mission College Blvd.
Santa Clara, CA 95054
(888) 262-4386

Century 25 Union City Theatres
32100 Union Landing Blvd.
Union City, CA 94587
(800) 326-3264

Seattle
AMC Pacific Place 11 [Note: Starts December 7th]
600 Pine St.
Seattle, WA 98101
(888) 262-4386

Toronto Area
Cineplex Odeon Yonge & Dundas 24
10 Dundas St.
Toronto, ON M5B 2G9
(416) 977-2262

Cineplex Odeon Eglinton Town Centre Cinemas
22 Lebovic Ave.
Toronto, ON M1L 4V9
(416) 752-4494

SilverCity Richmond Hill
8725 Yonge Street
Richmond Hill, ON L4C 6Z1
(416) 646-0444

Cineplex First Markham Place Cinemas
Highway 7 & Fairburn Drive
Markham, ON L3R 3P9
(905) 474-5101

Vancouver Area
Cineplex Odeon International Village Cinemas
88 West Pender, 3rd Floor
Vancouver, BC V6B 6N9
(604) 806-0799

SilverCity Coquitlam
170 Schooolhouse Street
Coquitlam, BC V3K 4X9
(604) 523-2911

SilverCity Riverport Cinemas
14211 Entertainment Way
Richmond, BC V6W 1K4
(604) 277-5993

Washington, D.C. Area
AMC Loews Rio Cinemas 18
9811 Washingtonian Ctr.
Gaithersburg, MD 20878
(888) 262-4386