The Crossing I

The Crossing is a historical drama film set during the Chinese Civil War in 1949. The story follows three couples who flee from China to Taiwan as the Communist forces take over the country. The film explores themes of love, loyalty, and survival as the characters navigate the dangerous and uncertain times. The film opens with Major General Lei Yifang, a Nationalist officer, leading a successful attack against Japanese forces during World War II. After the war, Lei marries wealthy debutante Zhou Yunfen, but their happiness is short-lived as the Chinese Civil War resumes. Meanwhile, poor and illiterate young woman Yu Zhen volunteers as an orderly at a Nationalist hospital in Shanghai. She dreams of reuniting with her boyfriend Yang Tianhu, who is fighting for the Communists. Sergeant Tong Daqing, a signal corps soldier, meets Yu and they take refuge in a noodle shop. Tong tells Yu about his reasons for joining the army, and Yu asks about the Republic of China Army's soldier identification numbers, hoping to find her missing lover Yang. As the Communist forces gain ground, Zhou's family is forced to flee to Taiwan. Zhou's mother, Yuan Shenglan, entrusts her daughter's safety to Dr. Yen Zekun, an ethnic Chinese field medic who is also fleeing to Taiwan. Dr. Yen is revealed to have a past relationship with Masako Nagasawa, now separated from him by political allegiance. Sergeant Tong and Yu continue their journey together, struggling to find employment and facing hardships along the way. They eventually find work as entertainers, with Tong spinning yarns about his fictional wife Yu to impress his fellow troops. Meanwhile, Dr. Yen and Zhou form a bond over their shared longing for their distant beloveds. As battle rages on, General Lei finds himself trapped behind enemy lines, forced to choose between his duty and survival instincts when his troops defect to the Communist side. In the end, Lei decides not to surrender and orders his remaining troops like Tong Daqing to fight on, despite the dire circumstances they face together.

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Some movies that have similar genres and were produced around the same time as The Crossing I include Still Alice, 3096 Days, Beautiful Boy, Surviving Lunch, Moonlight, 55 Steps.