On November 8, 1937, Taiyuan fell and the army retreated south to Linfen. For a time, this Jinnan town became the center of the War of Resistance in Shanxi and even North China. At this time, a special formation unit of the Eighth Route Army, the Eighth Route Army Academy, was established in Liucun Town, Linfen. In more than one hundred days, more than six hundred bloody youths "cast into steel" in this anti-Japanese war furnace.
Painted Skin is based on one of Pu Songling's classic short stories in Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio. Zhou Xun stars as Xiao Wei, a fox spirit that feasts on human hearts in order to maintain her lovely, youthful appearance. When General Wang Sheng (Chen Kun) 'rescues' her from a band of bandits and brings her home, trouble brews as the demon falls in love with the general.
