War, through a Chinese cook's eyes

War has inspired literature and film alike – All Quiet on the Western Front , Schindler's List , Saving Private Ryan – each exposing what war does to ordinary people: physically, morally, psychologically, and beyond.

But for the first time in China or perhaps anywhere, war is seen through the eyes of a cook – distilled down to something as simple and devastating as a group of hungry children.

What can a cook do? A cook cooks.

That's what Xu Fu does in the film Once Upon a Time in the Middle East .

But the meaning behind his cooking shifts – from earning money and paying off debt, to saving lives, to doing everything within his power to shelter others from the crossfire of war.

A Chinese restaurant becomes a sanctuary, a place of hope.

By using food as its central symbol, the film chooses a quieter, more intimate way to show what war destroys, and what people cling to in order to stay human.

As the Chinese saying goes, "When the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact." Within this story, the vision of "a community with a shared future for humanity" feels genuine, even urgent.

Through Xu Fu's joys and sorrows, his encounters and partings, the film lays bare the brutal reality of aggressive war – while illuminating something more enduring: the shared, irreducible values of humanity, and the choices we make to stay human in times of crisis.

In the end, peace is beyond price.