Terrace and lover of Ma. She is pregnant with Ma Dasan's child, who was conceived the night the prisoners arrived at their house. Kenya Sawada (澤田 拳也) as Captain Inokichi Sakatsuka, the commander of a company of Japanese soldiers encamped near Rack-Armor Terrace. David Wu (simplified Chinese: 吴大维; Traditional Chinese: 吳大維) as Major Gao, commander of a National Revolutionary Army battalion administering the area after the Japanese surrender. Zhijun Cong as Grandfather. Zi Xi (曦子) as Liu Wang, a peasant from the village of Rack-Armor Terrance. Haibin Li as “Me”, the man who forces Ma Dasan to hold two prisoners (Kosaburo Hanaya and Dong Hanchen) hostage. Weidong Cai as Er Bozi, a peasant from the village of Rack-Armor Terrance and Auntie's son. Lianmei Chen (simplified Chinese: 陈莲梅; traditional Chinese: 陈莲梅) as Auntie, Er Bozi's mother. Yoshimoto Miyaji as Koji Nonomura. Chen Qiang (陈强) as 'One-Stroke' Liu, a renowned executioner who Ma Dasan is introduced to but later turns out to be a fraud. Production Adaptation The film was inspired by and loosely based on a novel titled Survival by You Fengwei. Devils on the Doorstep retained the central characters' relationships and story frame of Survival. However, the final screenplay was largely original, with only a few similarities to You's novel. Because Jiang Wen and You Fengwei had different views about national character, this film set aside the theme of military-civilian resistance in the original work. The villagers took care of the Japanese prisoners, but the Japanese soldiers slaughtered them to death. It ruthlessly exposed the hidden character of the Chinese people's ignorance, numbness, servility and selfishness. This movie also embodies the Japanese national essence and Bushido spirit. They were merciless and cruel when they massacred the villagers, but obedient and humble after surrendering. Director Jiang Wen and director of photography Gu Changwei chose to shoot the film in black and white to capture the details of the historical era depicted in the movie. Jiang Wen believed that the entire black and white film paved the way for the last few color shots. There were initial worries about the sales and distribution prospects for a black-and-white film, but the production eventually went ahead. Budget and casting An executive director from Beijing Zhongbo Times Film Planning, one of the three investors in the film, said in an interview that the total expenditure on the film approached US$3.9 million, way above the original