After interviewing a lot of people and reading related news reports, from April to October, An led his crew across seven provinces and cities-including Shanghai, Fujian and Shaanxi provinces-shooting the film among China's diverse landscapes.
Aside from Yang and his wife, the film which consists three parallel short tales also focuses on another police officer's hunt for a drug-trafficking ring in Yunnan province, and a cancer-diagnosed officer who rescues villagers trapped in a mudslide in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.
Both of the other two stories are loosely inspired by real-life events.
An reveals the first of the other two tales is inspired by Wang Gang, who was awarded an Order of August First, the country's top military honor. The Chinese People's Armed Police Force is part of the country's armed forces under the command of the Central Military Commission.
"Wang is a very brave and awesome man. He once led his men to hunt a group of terrorists deep in the Tianshan Mountains for 56 days. When the targets were found hidden in a cave, Wang was the first to enter the cave with a submachine gun to shoot the terrorists at close quarters," says An.
Actor Li Qi, who plays the character inspired by Wang, says he was sent to an armed police base in Kunming, the provincial capital of Yunnan, to undergo harsh physical training, including carrying 15 kilograms of equipment while walking and running for more than 10 hours every day.
The third story is inspired by Li Baobao, a 27-year-old officer who insisted on working as a front line officer despite being in the late stage of lung cancer. He died in April 2018.
Zhong Chengxiang, chairman of China Literature and Art Critics Association, says the movie exemplifies domestic filmmakers' new effort to seek inspiration from real-life stories.
"During this year's National Day holiday, three blockbusters-My People, My Country, The Captain and The Climbers, all adapted from real stories-received unprecedented popularity. I hope we'll see more films that highlight real-life heroes," he says.
