The Black Cannon Incident Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

The Black Cannon Incident Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 21, 2019

Jianxin Huang's "The Black Cannon Incident" (1985) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Chinese label Disk Kino. The only bonus feature on the disc is an exclusive new program featuring film critic Tony Rayns. In Mandarin, with optional English and Mandarin subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

I am not at all convinced that The Black Cannon Incident would be better appreciated by a native Chinese viewer because it uses a very particular type of satire to make its points. Right from the get-go it is pretty clear what is happening in it, and why it is happening.

All of the events that are chronicled in the film take place around a giant construction site somewhere in provincial China. Here a team of workers is following closely the instructions of a highly-skilled German engineer named Hans (Gerhard Olschewski), who is in charge of a big and costly international project that the Communist Party has funded. However, Hans and his partners are communicating through a Chinese translator, Zhao (Zifeng Liu), and because a lot of their discussions on the site involve complex technical terms, their slow progress has become an issue for local Party leaders.

Operations on the site become even more problematic when Hans and Zhao have a disagreement, which quickly instigates a series of meetings between the workers and Party leaders where an emergency solution is discussed. In the meantime, Hans is provided with a new Chinese assistant whose understanding of German technical terms is so poor that in a matter of days Hans and a lot of the people that are part of his team become seriously frustrated with their work. While meetings are still underway Hans and Zhao resolve their disagreement, but now the Party leaders that are running them refuse to remove Zhao’s replacement and allow him to resume his previous duties. And the more they attempt to justify their stubbornness, the more operations on the constructions site begin to stutter.

Jianxin Huang’s directorial debut materialized in the early 1980s and the reason why it survived the communist censors is the smart manner in which it blends eye-opening satire and social realism. Of course, now everything that the film carefully highlights -- from the ridiculous ‘logic’ employed by Party apparatchiks that make things happen in all echelons of society to the backward nature of industrial progress throughout China -- is widely accepted as part of Chinese reality, but in the 1980s Jianxin Huang was undoubtedly playing with fire while he was exposing it to the world to see.

The blending that is mentioned above is done through misdirection of the type that Eastern European directors utilized in a wide range of films from the Cold War era. Indeed, in various segments it seems like the focus of attention is on the hilarious misunderstandings between Hans and his Chinese assistants, but it does not take long to realize that Jianxin Huang actually uses them to diagnose the an utterly inept totalitarian regime. Needless to say, the odd culture clash that is in the middle of the story that the film tells is nothing more than a litmus test that lifts the veil on a country that is run by complete lunatics.

A lot of the acting is a bit stiff and even artificial, and while it is not entirely clear if all of it is intentional, it absolutely feels in sync with the film’s objective. This is how a lot of real people would appear if they routinely face the ‘logic’ that is brought up to defend the supposedly sane side’s arguments. This type of acting also allows the viewer to grasp just how deeply institutionalized idiocy was in China and why intelligent ‘troublemakers’ -- which is precisely how Zhao is framed after his replacement is introduced to Hans -- were expunged by the Party.

The Black Cannon Incident Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.67:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jianxin Huang's The Black Cannon Incident arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Disk Kino.

Virtually all of the daylight footage looks quite good, especially when there is more natural light. Here delineation and clarity are usually very pleasing, plus there are decent ranges of nuances. Some of the darker indoor and nighttime footage, however, tends to flatten background nuances and at time introduces light black crush. My guesses is that when the current master was prepared it is how the color grading was done. I did not find these effects distracting because the film also has some native fluctuations that are part of its low-budget appearance. Image stability is very good. There are no large debris, cuts, damage marks, or other conventional age-related anomalies. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

The Black Cannon Incident Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Mandarin: LPCM Mono (with portions of German and English). Optional English and Mandarin subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The audio is clean, stable, and properly balanced. Dynamic intensity is limited, but such is the film's original sound design. The English translation is very good and the subtitles are easy to follow.

The Black Cannon Incident Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• An Innovative Film Feature Film Debut - presented here is an exclusive new video interview with critic Tony Rayns in which he discusses Jianxin Huang's career, the exact period in which The Black Cannon Incident was conceived, and some of the key themes in it. In English, with Mandarin subtitles. (39 min, 1080p).

• Booklets - two booklets with the following content in Mandarin:


• Critics on The Black Cannon Incident - including Chinese critics, scholars and directors' thoughts on this film.
• The Thought-Provoking Black Cannon - a recording of the discussion forum on this film, many Chinese critics, scholars and directors expressed their feelings of the film.
• Subtitling Black Cannon Incident - a new essay written by Chris Berry for this release.

The Black Cannon Incident Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Black Cannon Incident has plenty in common with the many Eastern European films that are emerging via Second Run in the United Kingdom. It pretends to be something else, but it is a political film that exposes an utterly inept totalitarian regime. I am actually quite surprised that Jianxin Huang was able to make the film in the 1980s because its objective is not at all difficult to understand. I liked it. This recent release is sourced from a good 2K remaster and features an exclusive new program with critic Tony Rayns. RECOMMENDED.