A poster of the film Railway Heroes Photo: Sina Weibo

Railway Heroes, a new historical drama film set during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) is scheduled to debut on November 19. Japanese actor Mori Hiroyuki said he was amazed by the Chinese filmmaking spirit he saw while filming the movie. 

The film takes place in East China's Shandong Province and follows a team of railway guerrillas who form an armed force to combat the Japanese invasion and defend their country.  

Hiroyuki plays a supporting yet important role opposite the two main characters, Wang and Hong, respectively played by Chinese actors Zhang Hanyu and Fan Wei. 

Although the Japanese actor plays the villain in the film, he praised the Chinese production team for their filmmaking skills. 

Calling the film crew "excellent," he told media that he was surprised by how the Chinese filmmaker were able to film very grand scenes while also rigorously paying attention to every detail. 

He said he was particularly surprised by the meticulous and detailed production designs in Chinese films that aim to adhere to historical accuracy. 

"Every single part of the costumes, makeup and prop designs was striving for perfection, even the hair was especially customized in order to show the unique hair texture of that era," Hiroyuki told media.  

"Such efforts are no longer extras to the story in many Chinese films and cultural productions. Particularly for a historical film, the more real the 'sense of age' we can bring to the audience, the more surreal the audiences can feel, because they have been brought back to history. Also, what he [Hiroyuki] was surprised about is very normal to us, we have to be dedicated to the finer things, because we have a love of Chinese cinema," Mei Yue, a film art director, told the Global Times on Thursday.    

"For such a dedicated production team, the only thing I can do is to give my best performance to repay everyone's efforts," Hiroyuki added. 

Born in Japan and spending his childhood in countries including the US and Canada, the Japanese actor also sees filmmaking as a bridge that can promote China-Japan cultural communication.