A Chinese film, financed by the government of China, about the formation of said republic. This is all out propaganda. What is interesting is that it's big budget, and it's on par with the many similar American propaganda films (from Hollywood). Stuff like Independence day, Black Hawk Down, Argo and so on. The acting is perfect. It's a star studded cast. They got all the biggest Chinese stars to do this. And you can tell. Both Jackie Chan and Jet Li have minor supporting roles. Their stars aren't bright enough to crowd out the better talent. So that's saying a lot. Great dialogue, as well. Anyway, cool to see a film like this where USA is the villain. While I'm in no way pro-Chinese. I do like variety and shifts in perspective. There's zero soul searching going on in this film. In this film Mao is the best guy ever. Truly loved and respected by all who know him. Although Chiang Kai Shek didn't actually kick a dog on screen... you just knew he did off camera. This is a bad man. I'm a history buff. So I've read biographies about all these people. They didn't need to do it this way. The Chinese communist party (ou tin the real world) already declared Mao an incompetent leader, and purged all his "henchmen". They did that in the 70'ies. So there should be zero contemporary controversy, in China, to do an accurate portrayal of both Chiang Kai Shek and Mao. But they chose to do it this way instead. Which took me a bit out of the drama. It's fun when the American ambassador is shown as a coward who doesn't stick up for his friends. Again... just nice to see, for a change, a high quality film that doesn't endlessly repeat the Hollywood messages of America's perfection. They do a quite good job dramatising, what essentially just is, a series of talks where a bunch of elderly men negotiate at various tables. There is a lot of smoking, and talking about smoking. I never figured out the symbolism of that. Or perhaps it just was historically accurate? The film does get a bit boring at times. There's a fun segment where Mao has taken sleeping pills but needs to get to safety in a bomb shelter. But he's high as a kite from the pills, and has no intention of cooperating with his handlers, who end up having to carry him by force on a stretcher (not a spoiler, since everybody who knows anything about history knows Mao survived). They do show some of the fighting. But this isn't a war movie. This film is only about the, behind the scenes, negotiating that later led to what became the formation of the republic. It spends a lot of time explaining why and how each member of the first Central Committee was elected. Which might be more fun if I knew more about recent Chinese history. Most of these names mean nothing to me. But it's pretty clear the viewers are supposed to be impressed. Which is another thing I like about it. Just like American propaganda films, it's shot for a domestic audience. It's obvious that this is shot for a Chinese audience, and only a Chinese audience. So they don't bother explaining, lots of stuff, you just have to know. I've read a lot of history, so I could mostly follow it. But far from everything. I did a lot of pausing and looking up stuff on Wikipedia. I must admit that I liked that aspect of it. It adds to the immersion, somehow. Despite it's flaws I did learn a lot, which I think is what's most important when it comes to historical dramas.

The year is 1945. The two leaders of China's civil war meet in Chongching and agree to form a coalition government and prepare for peace and democracy.For reasons that aren't entirely clear, one side - the Nationalists (KMT) under Chiang Kai-Shek - decides it rather prefers to go back to the war, and the Communists (CPC) under Mao defends the future of Chinese democracy.Throughout the film, Mao is a benign presence. He's greatly admired by his followers and considerate even to his cook, mourning him when he's killed. He plays and dances with children. He is stoic in the face of disaster and he remains keen to include other parties (the Chinese Democracy League and even the KMT, although not Chiang) in a coalition government before bringing democratic reform. He takes decisions by reaching a consensus and demonstrates decisive wisdom by implementing land ownership reforms. At one point, and without any sense of irony, Mao says before giving a direct order, "I'll be a dictator for a change". Without any cities in their hands Mao plans a new country: the lack of a city for a capital is phlegmatically described as "inadequate" by the Great Helmsman.Meanwhile, the KMT has problems. The party is split with factions conspiring against Chiang Kai-Shek. Assassinations are organised. Corruption in areas they control is rampant - it's "in the bones" of the KMT, says Chiang, revealingly. There are food shortages and rampant black-marketing. Chiang is apparently another benign presence, but seemingly impotent in the face of such problems. Elsewhere, KMT soldiers and agents kill pro- democracy activists.The rest, as they say, is history.But that's precisely the problem with the film: the history.For overall, the film is a rather pedestrian telling of an alternative version of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Any sense of drama is limp like a balloon deflating, and thus fails. The dialogue is preoccupied with explaining events and giving background rather than (say) developing characters and it feels at times like a dramatised documentary. Indeed, in a couple of places, it even uses archive footage.As we know, though, this isn't just a film: it has (another) Official History to tell and tell it it will, come what may. It is an Orwellian exercise.The revision of Chiang Kai-Shek has been remarked upon above but the point missed. Chiang has been rehabilitated to a certain extent as a great Chinese patriot, although one who is mistaken. A key scene in the film occurs with his son: the KMT are deciding to negotiate with the CPC, and the proposal is that China be divided along the Yangtze River. Chiang himself says that this would be something he would never allow. This is in line with the "one China" ideology espoused by the CPC, and also by today's KMT, even if they can't agree precisely what that China is.We know that Chiang and Mao were both ruthless dictators who both could be personally cruel and who both presided over corrupt regimes. Both before and after 1949, both were responsible for the murder of large numbers of their own citizens, although Mao wins the numbers game if we're counting corpses. We also know that the remarked upon land reforms of Mao - who is officially 30 percent wrong - were a catastrophic failure, while those of Chiang Kai-Shek in the 1950s were in fact a success.Finally, we also know that democracy was never really the intention of either leader. The references to democracy in the film are surely in very poor taste when - as I write this - Liu Xiabo, the winner of the 2010 Nobel Peace, languishes in jail and a number of his peers were earlier killed in the Tiananmen Square massacre of 4 June 1989 for demanding precisely that: democracy in China.

HUGE retelling of the founding of modern China after the Second World War. Its the story of the battle between Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong for control of the country. Despite some glimpse of battle this is a film that dwells mostly on the politics of the struggle. Its a fast paced tale that moves at a lightning speed through events. The speed is such that the film frequently uses titles to say where we are and who is speaking. Its large scale story that plays out like many of the American war films of the 1960's and 70's like The Longest Day, Tora Tora Tora, Midway (or to take another bend Towering Inferno) which play things out in a semi-documentary style. Like those films its both good and bad since it tells the huge story with a great deal of clarity, but its bad since the film contains a great deal of emotional distance since we're simply watching events not getting to know the characters. Who are all of these people? You really don't know, unless you already know the history. It kind of helps that the cast is full of many of China's biggest stars (Jackie Chan, Ziyi Zhang,Jet Li, Tony Lung Ka Fai, Andy Lau, Stephen Chow, Donnie Yen, Vivian Wu to name a few) but at the same time many of them are reduced to little more than walk ons. I like the film, but in the the way I'd like a documentary on the History Channel with recreations because it showed me some things I didn't know before. But at the same time what it showed me was kind of disconnected to reality and was floating about in space and not likely to stick because unless you know the history already watching the recreation is going to mean little. Can you tell I'm mixed? I liked it, I think its good and I had no problem following what was going on but its too emotionally distant to the point that I don't know if I need to ever see it again. Worth a look if you stumble across it (especially if you're a fan of the multitude of stars) but its not something you need search out. The very definition of a footnote film or the one film that makes playing 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon with Chinese actors so much more simple.

I generally do not take motion pictures too seriously (although I fully respect artistic achievements in them). TFOAR has painted as favourable a picture of Mao Zedong as you can see anywhere. I do not have a problem with that, simply shrugging it off with "It's only a movie". And if it is going to do this anyway, the period covered by the movie would certainly be a good one to do it with.On the other hand, this movie has come a long way from the heavy-handed political propaganda-type of movies usually produced by Mainland China. It is quite palatable, with what you can almost (but not quite) call minimalism approach. You do not find contrived vulgarization of the KMT or exaggerated glorification of the Communists. It fact, the first hour (i.e. about 2/5) of the movie was so much like a dull documentary that I had difficulty staying awake. But as it became more focuses and dramatic conflicts intensified, I got more and more interested.The first thing you would notice is the almost complete absence of gritty battle scenes, particularly when the story is essentially about the military struggle between the KMT and the Communists for the control of post-WWII China. The focus of this movie is on the political background, with characters and dialogue aplenty. The fateful, decisive Wei Hai Battle is all but briefly mentioned, after which the mood turns even lighter. The changing point is a playful scene of two official photographers setting up their camera at the unassuming entrance of a humble house and capturing the arrival of key personalities (a complete "who's who") to a meeting that sets the course of the founding of the PRC.The ominous elements is given almost exclusively to the KMT side, focusing mainly on Chiang Kai-shek who is depicted, however, with surprising generosity. The several scenes between him and his son Cheung Ching-kuo verge on tenderness, while the latter is even given an impeccably heroic persona. The only really dark side is Chiang Senior's order to secretly eliminate over a dozen Communist supporters on the eve of his fled to Taiwan. The harshest moment on the Communist side is, ironically, at the most glorious juncture, the victors' procession into Beijing. The rousing reception is led by an "old soldier" (not literally in age) portrayed brilliantly by the inimitable Liu Ye, representing an army that suffered horrendous casualties. The bitterness in this old soldier's dramatic salute in left for the audience to interpret.Overall, however, the movie bathes in a light, almost cheerful, atmosphere, which is totally understandable as it is made to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the foundation of the PRC. Who would want to recall blood and pain on a birthday party? It concludes with the "soft" history of the selection of the national anthem and flag for the new republic.The single most remarkable thing about this movie is Tang Guoqiang who has made a career out of portraying Mao. When, in the inserted newsreels, the real Mao appears, you wouldn't think it's a different person from what you see in the movie. He is just that good. In this movie he did a marvellous job in bringing out the charisma of this charismatic leader.It would be a sin not to mention the two women in this movie, Xu Qing playing Soong Ching-ling (Madam Suen Yat-san) and Vivian Wu Soong May-ling (Madam Cheung Kai-shek). While I am not familiar with Xu, her grace and poise I simply cannot think of another actress that can match. But my own favourite is Vivien Wu who would be better known to the global audience and played the same role in "The Soong sisters" (1997), but at a younger age. These two complement the superb performance of Tang and brighten up this movie. As to the huge cast of cameos of who's who in the Chinese movie scene, more than enough has been said, especially by incompetent movie reviewer who don't know what else to say.