Hong Kong director Dante Lam is one of the most successful and sought-after directors in China that in recent years have been involved in many big-budget movies with enormous box office revenue.
His latest war epic is "The Battle at Lake Changjin."
Co-directed by Chen Kaige, Hark Tsui and Lam, the movie tells the story of Chinese People's Volunteers soldiers fighting bravely in freezing weather in a key campaign at Lake Changjin during the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-1953).
Since its debut on Sept. 30 on the Chinese mainland, the movie has grossed more than 5.66 billion yuan (886 million U.S. dollars), becoming the second-highest ever box-office grosser in China.
The 57-year-old director said the movie is one of the most challenging projects in his career.
During the mammoth 200-day shooting period, he and other directors had to cope with COVID-19, coordinate more than 70,000 extras, and like the Chinese People's Volunteers soldiers, battle freezing temperatures that sometimes dropped below minus 30 degrees Celsius.
By working at the movie, Lam said he could feel how hard it was for the soldiers to fight the war.
During the shooting, he did a lot of research on Chinese People's Volunteers soldiers.
Their willpower stunned him.
Lam said, he feels happy and inspired to tell more Chinese stories through his movies.
