Beginning of the Great Revival

The sequel to Jianguo Daye (Lofty Ambitions of Founding a Republic)

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Woo joins cast of Chinese propaganda blockbuster
By MIN LEE (AP) – 10 hours ago

HONG KONG — A-List filmmaker John Woo is the first celebrity to join the cast of the second major film in the leading Chinese state film studio's campaign to reform the propaganda genre with a heavy dose of star power.

Last year, China Film Group Corp. released "The Founding of a Republic" to mark the Chinese Communist Party's 60th year in power. Eager to beef up the party's image among audiences who favor commercial blockbusters or Hollywood fare, the studio stacked the historical epic with Chinese-language cinema's biggest stars. Actors like Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Andy Lau were happy to comply even though they were given mere cameos, mindful of the importance of cultivating relationships in the booming mainland market.

China Film Group is now following up the 60 million Chinese yuan ($8.8 million) production with a second star-studded blockbuster that commemorates the 90th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party next year.

The first celebrity to sign on is "Mission: Impossible II" director Woo, China Film Group Film Production Corp. President Zhao Haicheng told The Associated Press in a phone interview on Wednesday. The veteran filmmaker will play Lin Sen, the former president of the ruling Nationalist government that the communists forced into exile in Taiwan in 1949, he said.

Shooting will start in mid- to late- August, Zhao said, declining to give further details.

The film called "The Founding of a Party" in Chinese will trace events between the 1911 revolution that overthrew imperial rule and the establishment of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921, the Chinese news website Sina.com reported on Wednesday. Directors Han Sanping — the chairman of China Film Group — and Huang Jianxin will shoot in Beijing, Shanghai, Paris and Moscow, the report said.

"The Founding of a Republic" raked in a massive 415 million yuan ($61 million) at the box office, helped by politically correct theater operators who flooded their properties with screenings. "The Founding of a Party" is likely to receive similar treatment.

Woo made his name in the Hong Kong industry with action thrillers like "A Better Tomorrow," "The Killer" and "Hard Boiled" before moving to the U.S., where his credits also include "Broken Arrow," "Face/Off" and "Windtalkers." Woo also had a small role in "The Founding of a Republic" but his character was cut in the final edit.

But he has focused on Chinese-language productions in recent years, directing the two-part historical epic "Red Cliff" and producing the upcoming kung fu movie "Reign of Assassins." His next project will take on the so-called "Flying Tigers" — American fighter pilots who defended China against Japanese invaders during World War II.

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2011 will be 100 year anni for 1911 republic revolution.

good to see any movies about events around this period.

hopefully, once political dust settled.

the chinese movies start to touch the untouchable or mao's era of rule of mistakes.

Premier Deng said 20 years of mistakes from great leap forward to cultural revolution.

China stopped for 20 years.

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any taker? probably not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBT3r...eature=related

deng's revolution

China post mao.

Filming starts next Wednesday.

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Stars join the party
China Daily, August 13, 2010

Hong Kong actor Daniel Wu and filmmaker John Woo have joined the cast of Founding of a Party, a film depicting the birth of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921.

Wu will play renowned scholar Hu Shih and Woo will play Lin Sen, a senior official of the then-ruling Nationalist government.

Han Sanping, head of the state-owned China Film Group Corporation, co-directs the film with veteran filmmaker Huang Jianxin.

The film will trace events between the 1911 revolution, that overthrew the imperial Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), and the establishment of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921.

Huang says Wu was the first actor to come to mind when he thought of possibilities for Hu, who was around 26-years-old at that time, and who had just returned to China after studying for a doctor's degree at Columbia University in the United States. He later taught in Peking University and wrote for the influential journal New Youth, advocating freedom, democracy and science.

Huang says Wu and Hu not only share the same look but also the experience of learning in the US.

Born in California, Wu majored in architecture at the University of Oregon before he moved to Hong Kong in 1997, where he quickly rose to stardom.

According to a crewmember surnamed Liu, many famous actors auditioned for the film, such as Liu Ye, Chen Kun and Dong Jie. Director Lu Chuan also tried his luck.

Filming will start on Aug 18 and the film is expected to hit the screen late 2011, the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party. The locations include Beijing, Shanghai, Changsha, Paris and Moscow.

Han and Huang pioneered the gathering of numerous stars in a patriotic film in 2009, with their Founding of a Republic celebrating the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, which raked in 415 million yuan ($61 million). Thanks to Han's clout in the industry, the film attracted a stellar cast, including Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Zhang Ziyi, although the stars only made cameo appearances.

Woo also had a role in that film, but his part was cut in the released version.

There have been rumors that actor Liu Ye, whose portfolio includes Zhang Yimou's Curse of the Golden Flower and war epic City of Life and Death, will play Mao Zedong this time, but the two directors are remaining tight-lipped until filming starts. Andy Lau is expected to play the legendary general Cai E and Zhou Xun might play his lover.

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This thread was originally called "The Founding of a Party"

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China launches star-studded propaganda movie

http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20110608/ca...4xDtL7hJoHKA--
Fan Bing Bing, Li Qin, Chow Yun-fat, Jasmine Chow, Liu Ye AP – From right, Chinese actress Fan Bingbing, Li Qin, Hong Kong actor Chow Yun-fat and his wife Jasmine Chow, …

– Wed Jun 8, 11:10 am ET

BEIJING – Chinese movie stars gathered Wednesday to launch a blockbuster movie celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party.

The "Beginning of the Great Revival" traces developments between the 1911 revolution that overthrew imperial rule and the establishment of the Chinese Communist Party on July 31, 1921. It is part of a series of events in China marking the anniversary.

It features many of the Chinese film industry's biggest names such as Andy Lau and Chow Yun-fat, who attended Wednesday's event.

Director Han Sanping told a news conference the movie is better than 2009's "The Founding of a Republic," which told the story of the Communist Party winning power in 1949.

China Film Group is hoping for a repeat of the success it had with "The Founding of a Republic" which made 415 million yuan ($61 million) at the box office, a large amount for China and for the usually staid propaganda genre.

Its success was helped by politically correct theater operators who flooded their properties with screenings. The "Beginning of the Great Revival" is likely to receive similar treatment.

Communist China's founding father, Mao Zedong, is played by Chinese actor Liu Ye, best known to Western audiences for his roles in the Zhang Yimou imperial drama "Curse of the Golden Flower" and the drama "Dark Matter," which costarred Meryl Streep.

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This is sort of the PRC version of Lincoln. This is the story of Mao, on a grand scale with a top-notch cast - serious propaganda as in '**** yeah China!' It's dense. There's a new character introduced like every five minutes. It's hard to follow, even if you know the history, which I do more or less, although less by this film's measure. A lot of speeches which probably sound really stirring in Chinese, but come off rather flat in subtitles. Oh, and there are subtitles every five minutes too that explain the point in history that is occurring. It's a lot of reading for a movie.

Chow Yun-Fat steals the show as Yuan Shikai, but as you all know, Yuan plays only a small part in Mao's tale. Tang Guoqiang didn't work for me as Mao - he was too sweet and the whole love affair was so sappy. It ends in a patriotic Chicom song. There's some spectacle - some fine battle scenes, mob scenes and monster sets - but it's like reading high school history book, if our high school history books even bothered with PRC history. As for sword fights, well, there's a good calvary sword charge into machine gun fire - very martyr worshipping.