On October 1, 1942, the Japanese cargo liner Lisbon Maru was secretly transporting more than 1,800 British prisoners of war across the East China Sea when it was torpedoed by an American submarine.

More than 800 POWs either drowned or were shot by Japanese soldiers as they attempted to escape, and close to 400 men were rescued from the water by courageous Chinese fishermen who came to their aid from a village on Dongji island in the nearby Zhoushan Archipelago. This little-known tale of courage and heroism inspires the rousing wartime epic Dongji Rescue.

Recounting the story from the point of view of the villagers, the film, directed by Guan Hu and Fei Zhenxiang, is by turns thrilling and ludicrous, as historical fact is reshaped into a bombastic saga of defiance and selflessness.

Read my full South China Morning Post review