Blockbuster movie features epic warehouse battle

Zhang Haojie and his girlfriend visited a landmark site in downtown Shanghai on Aug 25.

Standing by the gate to the Sihang Warehouse Memorial Hall, the site of a critical battle in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45), Zhang told his partner, "I guess I would have acted the same as the troops back then if I'd been in their situation. After all, it is a matter of life and death in battle, and you don't have a choice."

The paint on the museum's western wall has been removed, exposing red bricks beneath. Holes in the upper section of the wall, both large and small, are evidence of the fierce gunfire from Japanese troops as they attacked.

Like many other visitors to the museum, located on the north bank of Suzhou Creek, Zhang was drawn to the site by the war movie The Eight Hundred, which he had just watched.

Ma Youjiong, head of the memorial hall, said the film has attracted large numbers of new visitors to the museum. "We used to have no more than 500 visitors a day, but now we are receiving about five times that number," Ma said.

"To contain the COVID-19 pandemic, we introduced an online reservation system, and are limiting the number of visitors to 2,500 a day."

Visitors to the hall have to make reservations a few days in advance.

Zhang and his girlfriend visited the site during the Qixi Festival, or Chinese Valentine's Day.

"I have always been aware of the Sihang site. I know it marks an important time in Shanghai's history, but without seeing it in person, it was impossible to imagine the brutality of the war. The movie made a deep impression on me," Zhang said.

The Eight Hundred, which premiered in cinemas across China on Aug 21, is by far the country's biggest box-office success of the year.

Directed by Guan Hu and produced by Huayi Brothers Media Corp in association with nearly 20 other companies, the movie earned 1.5 billion yuan ($218 million) in the first week of its release, a large proportion of the nationwide box office total of 5 billion yuan this year to date.

The film is based on events that took place at the Sihang Warehouse during the war against the Japanese.