The Founding of a Republic (2009)

Inspired by true events, Founding of a Republic weaves a rousing tale of one man who fought against the tyranny of a ruler and led his people in battle in the ultimate sacrifice for his country.

Directors:

Sanping Han, Jianxin Huang

Writers:

Baoguang Chen, Xingdong Wang

Stars:

Guoqiang Tang, Guoli Zhang, Qing Xu

13 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Guoqiang Tang	...	Mao Zedong
Guoli Zhang	...	Chiang Kai-shek
Qing Xu	...	Soong Ching-ling
Jin Liu	...	Zhou Enlai
Kun Chen	...	Chiang Ching-kuo
Wufu Wang	...	Zhu De
Xueqi Wang	...	Li Zongren
Sha Liu	...	Liu Shaoqi
Bing Wang	...	Zhang Lan
Vivian Wu	...	Soong May-ling
Wei Zhao	...	Member of CPPCC
Zongdi Xiu	...	Fu Zuoyi
Donnie Yen	...	Tian Han
Yiwei Liu	...	Li Huang
Jun Hu	...	Gu Zhutong

Storyline

Inspired by true events, Founding of a Republic weaves a rousing tale of one man who fought against the tyranny of a ruler and led his people in battle in the ultimate sacrifice for his country.

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Plot Keywords:

people's liberation army | chinese revolution | chinese military | chinese army | nationalist china | 

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Genres:

Drama | History | War

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Details

Country:

China

Language:

Mandarin English

Release Date:

17 September 2009 (China)

Also Known As:

A Fundação de uma República

Filming Locations:

Beijing, China

Company Credits

Production Co:

China Film Group Corporation (CFGC), CCTV Movie Channel, Shanghai Film Studio

Technical Specs

Runtime:

138 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This movie was made to coincide with the 60th Anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party founding of China. This movie boasts the most number of China's movie stars in one movie. Many of the top stars were invited to star as leads, supporting characters, or just cameo in the movie, reportedly including some of the top Chinese stars like Jackie Chan and Jet Li, who only have one shot or one line in the movie.

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Quotes

Li Ji-chen: I heard you intend to resign. Even if you were to resign, at least wait till after the capitulation ceremony in Nanjing. You helped defeat the Japanese. The ceremony can't do without a national hero like you.
Chen Shaokuan: If I don't resign, very soon I'll be blamed for the civil war. We fought against the country's enemy for 8 years. We've struggled, we've fought all, nothing more need be said. And now that we've won, we're still warring. Against whom ? Chinese people fighting Chinese people... this kind of...

User Reviews

Propaganda v. 2.0

A previous reviewer (erroneously) noted that you need to know "Chinese history" to appreciate this film. In actuality, what you need to know is "PRC history"--the repeatedly revised history of the PRC (which is far shorter than "Chinese history") that deifies Mao Ze Dong and aligns the meaning of WWII and post-WWII historical events with a nationalist narrative sanctioned by the PRC state.

This film downplays the theme of "ideological struggle" that saturates previous films about the founding of the PRC in place of a dramatized struggle of power between different historical personalities. An extensive list of Chinese entertainment celebrities (from Jet Li to Donny Yen) make 2 minute cameos to portray an equally extensive list of notable Chinese political celebrities from that time period. It's as if someone thought it would be a good idea to adapt the formula for the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" to the story of the PRC's founding-- except it's not nearly as romantic or interesting.

The film portrays Chang Kai Shak as a conscientious political leader unable to contain the corruption of the KMT and compelled to make choices that dashed any real possibility of a multi-party democratic government in post-WWII China. The filmmakers show him struggling with KMT party members who seek to usurp his presidency and attempting to fight war-profiteering backed by political nepotism, all the while minimizing the actual scope of the corruption in order to market the film to a Taiwanese audience that is probably even more critical of Chang's historical role in this dark chapter of "Chinese history." Meanwhile, Mao is his usual mythologized self--a caring leader, a humble revolutionary, a loving father, a forgiving man, a light-hearted philosopher, and perhaps even a psychic. In one dialogue, Mao is seen emphasizing the need to get help from the "petty bourgeoisie" to rebuild China's war-devastated economy as if predicting (and giving his blessings to) the current free market reforms that began decades later with Deng Xiao Ping.

This is not a film for serious historians and enthusiasts, unless you are looking for an over-budgeted bad comedy. In fact, it's not that different from previous PRC films on the same subject. It's just updated with newer techniques of storytelling for contemporary Chinese film audiences that works in a more subtle way to legitimate the party's current vision of the PRC state. Thus, propaganda version 2.0.