Operation Mekong

Operation Mekong (traditional Chinese: 湄公河行動; simplified Chinese: 湄公河行动; pinyin: Méigōng Hé Xíngdòng; Jyutping: mei4 gung1 ho4 hang4 dung6) is a 2016 Chinese-Hong Kong crime action film directed by Dante Lam and starring Zhang Hanyu and Eddie Peng. The film is based on the 2011 Mekong River massacre. It was released in China on September 30, 2016 and became one of the highest-grossing films in China.[2][3]

Operation Mekong
Poster
Chinese湄公河行動
Directed byDante Lam
Written byDante Lam
Kang Ki-chu
Lau Siu-kwan
StarringZhang Hanyu
Eddie Peng
Production
company
Distributed byDistribution Workshop
Release date
  • September 30, 2016 (2016-09-30)
Running time
124 minutes
CountryChina
Thailand
LanguageMandarin
Thai
Lao
Burmese
English
Box office$173 million[1]

Cast
  • Zhang Hanyu as Gao Gang
  • Eddie Peng as Fang Xinwu
  • Feng Wenjuan as Guo Bing "Aphrodite"
  • Sun Chun as Yu Ping
  • Chen Baoguo as Minister of Public Security Jiang Haifeng
  • Liu Xianda as Xie Wenfeng "Icarus" (哪吒 meaning Nezha)
  • Jonathan Wu Linkai as Kuai Yitong "Hermes"
  • Zhao Jian as Guo Xu "Poseidon"
  • Zhan Liguo as Fu Baowei "Panoptes" (二郎 meaning Erlangshen)
  • Shi Zhanjie s Jiang Xing "Ares" (木星 meaning Jupiter)
  • Wu Xudong as Wild Bull Team Leader
  • Carl Ng as Pierre
  • Pawalit Mongkolpisit as Naw Khar
  • Vithaya Pansringarm as P'Som
  • Ken Lo as Xing Deng
  • Ron Weaver as Puja
  • Ganesh Acharya as Mr Zar
  • Mandy Wei as Fang Xinwu's girlfriend (cameo)

The members of the operation have aliases: in the Chinese version they are named after deities in Chinese folk religion, while in the English versions the names are changed to deities in Greek mythology.[4]

Production

Production began in September 2015. Shooting locations include China (Beijing and Yunnan), Malaysia and Thailand.

Release

Operation Mekong was released on 30 September 2016. It concerns an incident that occurred in Chiang Saen District of Chiang Rai Province on 5 October 2011 when 13 Chinese crew members from two cargo ships were murdered by a Myanmar drug-trafficking ring.

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, responding to news of the film's imminent release, said that the film would be banned in Thailand if it was found to "damage" the country. "I have ordered authorities to check the content of Operation Mekong. If it is damaging, it will be banned," Gen Prayut said.[5] Some believe that the reason for his government's nervousness is that Thai troops, the "elite" anti-drug Pa Muang Task Force, were known to have been at the scene of the massacre.[6] Nine soldiers were arrested, but "...have since disappeared from the justice system."[6] Naw Kham, a Golden Triangle drug kingpin, and his gang were found guilty of attacking the two Chinese cargo ships in collusion with Thai soldiers. He was executed in March 2013 in China along with three accomplices, including a Thai national.[5]

Reception

The film has grossed CN¥1.17 billion at the Chinese box office.[2]

Jessica Kiang of Variety stated that Operation Mekong "hurtles by in an enjoyably giddy, propulsive rush right until the final titles, which dedicate the film to the dead fishermen and detail the fate of the real Naw Kham."[4] Kiang stated that the sense of escapism in the film may be interfered with by the references to real life tragedies.[4]

Awards and nominations

Accolades
Award Category Nominee Result Ref.
34th Hundred Flowers Awards Best Director Dante Lam Nominated [7]
Best Writing Dante Lam, Zhu Jingqi, Liu Xiaoqun, Tan Huixian, Lin Mingjie Nominated
Best Actor Zhang Hanyu Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Feng Wenjuan Nominated
31st Golden Rooster Awards Best Picture Operation Mekong Won [8][9]
Best Art Director Li Jianwei Nominated
12th Chinese American Film Festival Golden Angel Award Film Operation Mekong Won [10]
Best Actor Zhang Hanyu Won
Best Producer Won
13th Guangzhou Student Film Festival Most Popular Film Operation Mekong Won
24th Beijing College Student Film Festival Best Actor Zhang Hanyu Nominated
Eddie Peng Nominated
Best Visual Effects Nominated
Favorite Film Operation Mekong Won
Favorite Actor Zhang Hanyu Won

References
  1. "Operation Mekong". Box Office Mojo
  2. "湄公河行動（2016）". cbooo.cn (in Chinese). Retrieved October 16, 2016.
  3. "湄公河行動 (2016)". movie.douban.com (in Chinese). douban.com. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  4. Kiang, Jessica (2016-10-22). "Film Review: 'Operation Mekong'". Variety.
  5. Jitcharoenkul, Prangthong (2016-09-28). "PM mulls 'Operation Mekong' ban". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  6. "Whitewash at Chiang Saen". Bangkok Post. 2 October 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  7. "第34届大众电影百花奖提名名单公布". Netease (in Chinese). November 7, 2018.
  8. "金鸡奖提名：《潘金莲》领跑 范冰冰周冬雨再争影后". ifeng (in Chinese). August 16, 2017.
  9. "邓超范冰冰分获影帝影后《我不是潘金莲》成金鸡大赢家". ifeng (in Chinese). September 16, 2017.
  10. "第十二屆中美電影節星光熠熠——開幕式暨金天使獎頒獎典禮耀動洛城". cafilmfestival.org. Retrieved 2017-05-15.
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