The 400 Million

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.

• Joris IvensDirector
• Joris IvensWriter
• Dudley NicholsWriter
• John FernhoutDirector

• Fredric MarchNarration (voice)
• Morris CarnovskyAdditional Voice (voice)
• Sidney LumetAdditional Voice (voice)
• Robert Q. LewisAdditional Voice (voice)
• Alfred RyderAdditional Voice (voice)
• Adelaide BeanAdditional Voice (voice)
• Lai SekHimself (archive footage)
• Madame ChiangHerself (archive footage)