Movielogr
The 400 Million (1939)
Directed by Joris Ivens, John Fernhout
Overview
Joris Ivens’s wartime documentary of China’s resistance to the Japanese invasion, cross-cutting civilian exodus and bombing with the Nationalist state’s mobilization—schools, industry, dispersed war production, foreign relief—and guerrilla fighting. Framing an ancient nation of “400 million,” it contrasts tradition with modernization and closes on the unresolved question of victory.
Length 54 minutes
Actors
Fredric March | Morris Carnovsky | Sidney Lumet | Robert Q. Lewis | Alfred Ryder | Adelaide Bean | Lai Sek | Madame Chiang