Before the New Bureau Director Arrives

Two famous comedians from pre-Revolution days perform a series of sketches in a theatre for a group of Party cadres. The stage performances blend over into absurdist, self-contained fantasy episodes where the two comics allegorically parody Party propaganda and ideological orthodoxy.

Four students in Shanghai have recently finished university. All are unemployed. Xu contemplates suicide but his friend Zhao talks him out of it. Zhao lives in a shabby room with just a flimsy wall of planks separating him from the room behind. Miss Yang, in town to take a factory job, moves in behind. Her nails into the wall knock Zhao's photos down. The unseen neighbours start playing tit for tat... Zhao gets a job as proofreader at a newspaper. He sees that pretty girl on the tram to work every day. He doesn't know her, but it's Miss Yang... Zhao is assigned to cover labour conditions for the paper. He is sent to a factory, the one where Miss Yang works...

Lu Ban's second short titled The Man Who Doesn’t Bother about Trifles (不拘小节的人 bùjū xiǎojié de rén). He carefully toned down the political satire here, switching his target to intellectuals instead of bureaucrats. The main character, Li Shaobai, is a rude literary critic who goes to a conference to lecture about satirical literature. Li is absolutely full of himself, and constantly misunderstands other people. Like Before the New Director Arrives, The Man Who Doesn’t Bother about Trifles was greeted with plenty of positive responses. Still, while Lu tried to be more careful with this second short, this didn’t stop some critics from taking issue with its ridiculous main character and humor.

In 1948, after the Northeast was liberated, enemy sabotage began. The Public Security Bureau learned that spy Li Tianmin had infiltrated the city. Bureau chief and Captain Zhang quickly deployed personnel to capture him. Li Tianmin evaded key questions during interrogation. Clues were found on a milk bottle cap delivered by a boy, who passed it to another spy, Zhou Shaomei. Under surveillance, Zhou Shaomei, fearing Li Tianmin’s capture, killed the boy to erase evidence. Intelligence personnel mobilised the masses, pressuring the hidden enemies. Many deceived individuals provided clues, ensnaring the enemies in the people’s war.

Factory workers in 1947 repair a bridge over Song Hua River so that Communist forces can use it.

During the early War of Resistance Against Japan in Baiyangdian, Hebei, the Yanling Squad, led by Communist Party member Hei Lao Cai, conducted effective guerrilla warfare. Yang Xiaomei, fleeing abuse from her husband Zhang Jinlong, joined the squad and developed feelings for farmer Niu Dashi. Zhang Jinlong, unable to change, defected to the Japanese. As Japanese sweep operations intensified, Xiaomei, Dashi, and Zhang Jinlong faced different paths in the conflict.

Militiaman in Lü Liang Shan actively organize to fight enemies.