Initiative can improve ties with Vietnam

Film will help viewers admire war heroes

Youth chronicles the destinies of some young members of an art troupe in the Chinese military and their patriotism against the backdrop from 1970s to early 2000s, including the China-Vietnam war. By focusing on the youths' humanity, life, love and freedom, and their struggle to make ends meet after leaving the military, Youth takes a course different from many other Chinese films.
Director Feng Xiaogang and writer Yan Geling both served in the military when they were young, and both say their experiences, as shown in the movie, will make viewers understand and admire the heroes of the 1979 war.

The movie, to some extent, depicts historical facts but the war was more brutal than what is shown in the film, through which the director and writer want to capture their times and convey to the audience the feelings and good times they went through as youths in those volatile years.