Africa is once again the backdrop for a glossy, big-budget Chinese patriotic blockbuster that dominated this weekend’s National Day holiday box office with $37 million in ticket sales.
“Home Coming” is a fictional recounting of the evacuation of some of the 30,000 Chinese nationals from Libya on the eve of the civil war in 2011. The film, directed by Rao Xiaozhi, also stars well-known actors Zhang Yi and Wang Junkai in a “no man left behind” story where two young Chinese diplomats return to a war zone, against the odds, to save 125 compatriots.