In the 1950s, the Chinese Republic Government is newly established. Revolutionists in different parts of China seek chances to revolt. Everywhere is restless and chaotic. 701 Headquarter, consisting of Inspection, Interpretation and Operation, is set up to spy through telegraph. But one day in October, all of a sudden the enemy shut down 126 military channels for 30 hours. After these long hours, when they tune back the channels, only daily news is being broadcasted. Without concrete information, operators at the frontline are at risk.
Chang Xue-ning (Zhou Xun) from Operations is sent back to Headquarters as her identity has been disclosed in Hong Kong. Reporting into 701, she is astonished to discover that her supervisor is Guo Zhong-xing, who used to woo her. Their relationship is still a mystery. Xue-ning`s new mission is to seek out worthy people with superb oral comprehension. She targets Luo San-er, the piano tuner of Song Qing Ling, but it turns out she brings Luo`s personal assistant, He Bing (Tony Leung) to report for duty. Bing is uncivilized and blind but his hearing is splendid – he can even hear the wind. Is he strong enough to be the saviour in this era of silent war?
The Silent War opens in Singapore 16th August, 2012.