Signal Fires of Shanghai Backdrop Blur
Signal Fires of Shanghai Poster
8.8 1h 7m

Signal Fires of Shanghai

During the Taiping Rebellion of the mid-19th century, anti-Qing (Manchu) Chinese forces led by Taiping commander Li Xiucheng march on Shanghai. Although the Western powers are officially neutral, the British consul in Shanghai sides with the Qing imperial government, and counter to his own government's policy he retains American adventurer Frederick Townsend Ward to raise a mercenary force of foreigners in Shanghai and oppose the Taipings. Ward's force is routed, with heavy casualties, but since many of the casualties are British, the British army soon is drawn in on the side of the Qings. The only support for the Chinese comes from Japanese in Shanghai and anti-imperialist demonstrations in Japan. A family drama plays out against this historical background. After a Chinese home is destroyed by careless British shelling, killing the father and crippling a daughter, the surviving son vows revenge but begins to see that his true friends may be the Japanese.

Top Cast

  • Tsumasaburō Bandō

    Tsumasaburō Bandō

    Shinsaku Takasugi

  • Ryūnosuke Tsukigata

    Ryūnosuke Tsukigata

    Saisuke Godai

  • Li Li-Hua

    Li Li-Hua

    Wang Ying

  • Ryōsuke Kagawa

    Ryōsuke Kagawa

    Heirokurô Numata

  • Ryōnosuke Azuma

    Ryōnosuke Azuma

    Shakusaburô Ôtsuka

  • Tatsuya Ishiguro

    Tatsuya Ishiguro

    Kuranosuke Nakamuta

  • Yoshimatsu Nakamura

    Yoshimatsu Nakamura

    Boartman

  • Xiucen Duan

    Xiucen Duan

    Ah Yang - the waiter

  • Han Lan-Gen

    Han Lan-Gen

    Ah Lin - the waiter

Overview

During the Taiping Rebellion of the mid-19th century, anti-Qing (Manchu) Chinese forces led by Taiping commander Li Xiucheng march on Shanghai. Although the Western powers are officially neutral, the British consul in Shanghai sides with the Qing imperial government, and counter to his own government's policy he retains American adventurer Frederick Townsend Ward to raise a mercenary force of foreigners in Shanghai and oppose the Taipings. Ward's force is routed, with heavy casualties, but since many of the casualties are British, the British army soon is drawn in on the side of the Qings. The only support for the Chinese comes from Japanese in Shanghai and anti-imperialist demonstrations in Japan. A family drama plays out against this historical background. After a Chinese home is destroyed by careless British shelling, killing the father and crippling a daughter, the surviving son vows revenge but begins to see that his true friends may be the Japanese.

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