Set in 1942, the Chinese government is a puppet of imperialistic Japan. A string of high Chinese officials are assassinated. Japan's intelligence agency tries to find out the mole inside the intelligence agency by sending a false telegraph. Five suspects are caught reading the telegraph and then are sent to a closed fortress. To little avail, interrogators torture them to confess.
The chief officer of the agency and the five suspects start to lose patience and sanity. Self-sacrifice for their nation, brotherhood, and betrayal lead to an unforgettable climax. The Message was co-directed by CHEN Kuo-fu and GAO Qunshu. Taiwanese director CHEN is also a producer who worked on films of FENG Xiaogang, the most popular director in China. The popular approach of the established director CHEN and the bold directorial style of the budding director GAO successfully combine in the psychological thriller set during World War II. The characters' acting is quite noticeable throughout the film. The main actors remarkably well deliver the extremely tense and intricate relations that evolve in the closed area only through their verbal and facial expressions. Co-starring in the film, ZHOU Xun, one of the top four actresses in China, and the emerging star LI Bingbing add a female perspective to the wartime thriller.

China ｜ 2009 ｜ 120min ｜ 35mm ｜ color
Directors CHEN Kuo-fu / GAO Qunshu
International Premiere

Director CHEN Kuo-fu
Born in 1958, CHEN is a renowned director, film critic, actor and producer for documentaries and music videos. Since his debut with School Girl (1989), his films have been invited to international film festivals including Treasure Island (1993) which was invited to competition at the Locarno International Film Festival. His 1999 film The Personals swept five awards at the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival including the best film and best director awards and was invited to Cannes, Toronto and Rotterdam film festivals.

Director GAO Qunshu
After graduation from Journalism Department of Hebei University, GAO gained an immediate fame by making the drama series 13 Murder Cases. In 2003, he made another hit crime drama series Conquer, which is seen as China’s version of US TV series 24. In 2006, he made his debut feature Tokyo Trial, which won Jury’s Special Prize at the Changchun International Film Festival. His second film Old Fish received Jury’s Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Film Festival