The Founding of a Party

The Founding of a Party (China)
Beginning of the Great Revival (International)
Traditional 建黨偉業
Simplified 建党伟业
Mandarin Jiàn Dǎng Wěi Yè
Directed by Huang Jianxin
Han Sanping
Produced by Han Sanping
Written by Dong Zhe
Guo Junli
Huang Xin
Starring See cast list below
Music by Shu Nan
Ma Shangyou
Editing by Derek Hui
Studio China Film Group
Distributed by China Film Group (mainland China)
China Lion Film Distribution (International)[1]
Release date(s) 15 June 2011 (2011-06-15) (China)[2]
24 June 2011 (2011-06-24) (North America, Australia, New Zealand)[2]
Running time 118 minutes
Country China
Language Mandarin

The Founding of a Party, alternatively titled in English Beginning of the Great Revival for its international release,[3][4][5] is a Chinese film released in 2011 to mark the 90th anniversary of the Communist Party of China. The film is directed by Huang Jianxin and Han Sanping, both of whom also worked on the similar historical film, The Founding of a Republic, and features a star-studded cast of Chinese actors, including Andy Lau and Chow Yun-fat.[6][7] The film was created by the state-owned China Film Group and depicts the formation of the Chinese Communist Party, from the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911 to the Party's creation in 1921.[8]

Contents

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Plot

During the early 20th century, China is marked by political disunity and a handful of individuals, including Mao Zedong, Li Dazhao, and Zhou Enlai, envision a unified China, especially in the political crises that followed the 1911 Xinhai Revolution, which ended centuries of dynastic rule in the country. After World War I, the Western Allies give Tsingtao and Kiaochow Bay to the Empire of Japan, stirring sentiments amongst China's youth, leading to the May Fourth Movement of 1919. In March 1920, Grigori Voitinsky comes to China in an attempt to spread communism to the Far East and, on 22 July 1921, thirteen representatives from throughout China meet in a Shanghai's women's dormitory to found what would become the Chinese Communist Party.[9]

Production

One of 28 films promoted by the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television to mark the 90th anniversary of the Communist Party,[4] filming on Party commenced on 18 August 2010 at the China Film Group Corporation's shooting location in Huairou District, Beijing.

Dubbed by Western media as a "propaganda epic",[10][11] the film has a final all-star cast, including celebrities from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and abroad playing the roles of various historical figures; a few notable actors include Andy Lau, Chow Yun-fat, Taiwanese-American singer Leehom Wang,[12] Hong Kong director John Woo,[7] Taiwanese actor Chang Chen,[13] Hong Kong actor Eric Tsang,[14] Mainland China singer Han Geng[15] and Russian singer Vitalii Vladasovich Grachyov (stage name Vitas).[16] Liu Ye, who plays as Mao Zedong, was reported to have gained 10 kilograms (22 lb) in order to play his role, a feat achieved by eating 20 eggs a day.[17] Media reports claim that over 400 actors auditioned for the film's roles.[17]

During a news conference on 8 June 2011, Huang Jianxin said that the film would have several scenes cut, as the original film would have otherwise been too long for theatrical release.[2] Among the cuts were actress Tang Wei's performance as Tao Yi, an early female partner of Mao Zedong. Some media reports claimed that Mao Zedong's grandson Mao Xinyu,[18] a major-general in the People's Liberation Army, objected to her being inappropriate for the role (citing her earlier role in the erotic-thriller film Lust, Caution).[11] A cinema group executive, however, alleged that unnamed "industry insiders" had questioned the factual accuracy of her character and denied the decision was related to Wei's role in Lust, Caution.[10]

Production values have improved over Han Sanping's previous film The Founding of a Republic, with better-lit widescreen photography created by Zhao Xiaoshi. As with Republic, Party also features musical scores by Shu Nan. Some original black-and-white documentary footage included within the film.[19] The film was also given an opportunity to shoot within the Moscow Kremlin.[20]

Sponsorship

Shanghai GM, the Chinese joint venture of the US automotive giant General Motors, announced in September 2010 that its subsidiary Cadillac had become 'chief business partner' to the film.[21] General Motors was hit by criticism upon revelations that it had sponsored the Chinese communist propaganda film.[6][21][22][23] General Motors said the sponsorship was a commercial alliance initiated by its Chinese joint venture and described it as "part of a strategic alignment with the film industry." Film group spokesman said Cadillac had signed a multi-year cooperation deal with the studio, not solely for the film.[6]

Release

The premiere event of the film took place on 8 June in Beijing, prior to its official release on 15 June. According to Han Sanping, the film will be shown abroad in over 10 countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, South Korea and Singapore, and that the global version of the film finished editing on 8 June.[1][4] The theme song of the film is titled One Day.[24] The IMAX version of the film was screened in only a select 20 of the 24 IMAX theatres in China.[9][17]

The Chinese theatrical releases of Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 were delayed until late July, possibly to ensure that The Founding of a Party received the maximum amount of attention possible.[18]

Reception

Two days after the box office release, the film's gross exceeded RMB 50 million,[25] and there were reports that the majority of viewers were young people.[26] However, there are also reports that ticket sales have been inflated by mass distribution of free tickets; staff have been given time-off from work to see the film. Box office takings have been inflated at the expense of popular films – many complicit cinemas manually altered computerised ticket stubs for the film, allowing the viewer to see other films.[27][28]

A review by Derek Elley suggests that Han Sanping's idea of "selling" official anniversary films by cramming them full of celebrity cameos was not as successful in The Founding of a Party in comparison to his previous 2009 film The Founding of a Republic created to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, although the tactic still works to a lesser extent; he suggests that the use of star cameos was inherently less panoramic because the film plot is set within a smaller scope of a 10 year period, and that the concept of star cameos is "a tad less fresh". As with Republic, Party provides a strong "ooh-look! factor" due to its familiar faces, however very few actors get a chance to build real performances in dramatic terms. He also praises the scene designs, referring to a sequence in Beijing as having a "fairytale atmosphere". Derek rates the film overall at 7 out of 10.[19]

Zhao Kun from the state-run Global Times similarly writes that though the celebrity cameos are fun to identify, they can become quite distracting to the viewer. He also suggests that the large amount of on-screen textual explanation can be associated with the film crew's ineptitude in storytelling. Though he states that the drama is decently done, Zhao also criticizes that the short plot episodes are inconsistent and do not allow for actors to melt into the storyline, and gives the film an overall final rating of 6 out of 10.[29]

Some Internet users in mainland China rated the film very low scores on online polls and posted critical comments relating to the film. According to Radio France Internationale, preliminary reviews from Chinese netizens made online within two days after the film's release were generally negative.[30] Popular Chinese movie review websites MTime and Douban deleted previous low rating and negative comments on the film in an exercise of self-censorship; a screenshot of the douban website prior to its disabling the ratings system shows that 87.8 percent users had given the movie a one-star rating. The sites no longer allow users to post reviews.[31][27]

Chinese users of Twitter and other blogging platforms and forums have written sardonic reviews of the film, highlighting the irony of glorifying the overthrow of the Kuomintang's dictatorship, only to impose one-party rule. One Twitter user was reported as saying, "Yesterday I was mocking at the founding of the party, but after watching the trailer, I really feel that all young people should see this movie and learn from the movie how to struggle with corrupted power. Learn how to strike and overthrow the dictatorship." Another blogger tweeted, "Beginning of the Great Revival should consider putting up a warning statement: "Danger! Do not imitate! The show is performed by professionals, imitation will lead to imprisonment or disappearance."[32] An editorial in the Hong Kong magazine, Yazhou Zhoukan observed that "ninety-some years ago, the people of China pursued the dream of social and economic justice, but today these are still in sight but beyond reach, they are still beautiful fictions on the silver screen.” The editorial also drew a contrast between one of the film's central slogans "Long live the workers!" with the modern day plight of Chinese migrant workers, who are described as "second-class citizens."[33]

Cast

Actor Role
Liu Ye Mao Zedong
Tang Guoqiang older Mao Zedong
Chen Kun Zhou Enlai
Li Qin Yang Kaihui
Huang Jue Li Da
Liao Fan Zhu De
Chow Yun-fat Yuan Shikai
Qi Yuwu Wang Jinmei
Wang Xuebing Bao Huiseng
Zhang Yishan Deng Enming
Tong Ruixin Chen Gongbo
Fan Zhibo Cai Chang
Li Jing Yuan Keding
Bai Bing Lu Yin
Huang Lei Cao Rulin
Du Chun Xu Deheng
Wang Xinjun Xu Chongzhi
Tao Zeru Zhang Xun
Liu Yiwei Duan Zhigui
Hou Yong Tang Shaoyi
Zhao Lixin Yang Mingzhai
Dai Xu Yu Fangzhou
Li Qi Lin Chenru's wife
Yang Yang Yang Kaizhi
Yu Shaoqun Mei Lanfang
Liu Peiqi Gu Hongming
Zhang Xilin Wang Zhengting
Leehom Wang Luo Jialun
Ma Jing Reporter
He Yunwei French translator
Xu Haiqiao Qu Qiubai
Wen Ruohan Zhang Tailei
Liu Tao Consort Jin
Jing Boran
Liu Ye
Fang Anna
Hong Jiantao Huang Xing
Bao Bei'er Peking University student
Sergey Barkovski Vladimir Lenin
Yan Ruihan Puyi
Actor Role
Zhang Jiaze Li Dazhao
Li Chen Zhang Guochou
Chang Chen Chiang Kai-shek
Zhang Guoli older Chiang Kai-shek
Zhou Xun Wang Huiwu
Andy Lau Cai E
Zhang Hanyu Song Jiaoren
He Ping He Shuheng
Tan Kai Chen Tanqiu
Huang Xuan Liu Renjing
Michelle Ye Li Lizhuang
Wang Luodan Zhang Ruoming
Che Yongli Lu Xiaoman
Liu Yunlong Jiang Baili
Liu Wenzhi Xu Shichang
Fan Wei Li Yuanhong
Alex Fong Chung-sun Yang Du
Daniel Wu Hu Shih
Zu Feng Deng Zhongxia
Lin Shen Duan Xipeng
Shu Yaoxuan Wu Bingxiang
Guo Jinglin Zhang Zongxiang
Feng Danying Zhang Cuixi
Chen Daoming V.K. Wellington Koo
Ren Zhengbin Wei Chenzu
Xie Mengwei Driver
Fan Lei Bodyguard leader
Wang Shuoxin Li Fuchun
Li Xuejian Yang Changji
Deng Chao Chen Yi
Wen Zhang Deng Xiaoping
Xiaoshenyang
Chen Guoxing
Dong Jie Soong Ching-ling
Zou Junbo Zhu Qisheng
Vitalii Vladasovich Grachyov Grigori Voitinsky
Eric Tsang Ta Kung Pao reporter
Myolie Wu Yuan Shikai's concubine
Gera Shchenko Andriyan Henk Sneevliet
Actor Role
Feng Yuanzheng Chen Duxiu
Pan Yueming Cai Hesen
Dong Xuan Xiang Jingyu
Tang Wei Tao Yi
Angela Yeung Wing Xiaofengxian
Ma Shaohua Sun Yat-sen
Zhou Jie Li Hanjun
Wang Danrong Dong Biwu
Zhang Yi Zhou Fohai
Wang Xueqi Cai Yuanpei
Wang Po-chieh Xiao Zisheng
John Woo Lin Sen
Qin Lan Su Xuelin
Ray Lui Wu Peifu
Zhao Benshan Duan Qirui
Feng Gong Feng Guozhang
Zhao Chenhao Feng Guozhang's deputy
Nick Cheung Liang Qichao
Ren Zhong Yuan Jiasheng
Zhang Jian Lin Chenru
Xia Fan Zhang Shenfu
Jiang Shan Chen Yan'an
Zhang Shan Zhang Boling
Lin Yongjian Lou Tseng-Tsiang
Tian Xiaojie Alfred Sao-ke Sze
Zhao Chenguang Reporter
Xu Zheng Duan Qirui's deputy
Han Geng Deng Xiaoping
Yu Xiaoguang Liu Shaoqi
Fan Bingbing Empress Dowager Longyu
Jiang Wu
Nie Weiping
Fu Xinbo
Nie Yuan Chen Qimei
Lin Xiang Schoolteacher
Miriam Yeung Hong Kong teenager
Alex Fong Lik-san Hong Kong teenager
Takuya Kimura Japanese military officer
Miura Kenichi Japanese signatory of the Twenty-One Demands

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Jonathan Landreth, 20 May 2011, China Lion to Release Chinese Communist Party Epic in North America, Australia, New Zealand, Hollywood Reporter
  2. ^ a b c Liu Wei, 11 June 2011, Revival ready for release with leaner cast, China Daily
  3. ^ 10 June 2011, Epic story gets star-studded treatment, Eastday. Original article from Shanghai Daily.
  4. ^ a b c 9 June 2011, Star-studded film charts 90 years of Communist Party, Global Times
  5. ^ Patrick Frater, 21 May 2011, Party becomes Revival for int'l release, Film Business Asia
  6. ^ a b c Associated Press, 8 June 2011, China launches star-studded propaganda movie, Yahoo!
  7. ^ a b Brian Brooks, 8 June 2011, John Woo and Chow Yun-Fat Among Chinese Stars Who Pimp for Communist Party Blockbuster, indieWIRE
  8. ^ Chi-Chi Zhang. 'China takes no chances on blockbuster status of star-filled propaganda film 'Great Revival, Associated Press, 9 June 2011
  9. ^ a b Beginning of the Great Revival: The IMAX Experience, IMAX website
  10. ^ a b Lee, Min (26 May 2011). Tang's role in Chinese propaganda film in doubt, Associated Press
  11. ^ a b Clifford Coonan, 16 May 2011, "China's leading lady Tang Wei deemed too racy to star in Mao movie", The Independent
  12. ^ 9 June 2011, 《建党伟业》再现五四狂飙 王力宏黄轩辩论戏PK, Sina Entertainment
  13. ^ 9 September 2010, 张震《建党伟业》演青年蒋介石 定妆照帅气逼人, China Film Group
  14. ^ 9 June 2011, 周润发谈《建党》造型 称曾志伟更像袁世凯, Ifensi
  15. ^ 27 May 2011, 《建党伟业》主打偶像风 一米八韩庚出演邓小平, Sina Entertainment
  16. ^ 10 June 2011, 《建党伟业》将映 赵立新六月大秀“四栖连环计”, Xinhua News Agency
  17. ^ a b c 16 June 2011, China turns all its attention to 'Beginning of the Great Revival', The Independent
  18. ^ a b Clifford Coonan, 30 May 2011, China Communists celebrate with 'Revival': 'Transformers,' 'Harry Potter' be delayed, Variety
  19. ^ a b Derek Elley, 15 June 2011, Beginning of the Great Revival (建黨偉業), Film Business Asia
  20. ^ 14 December 2010, 'The Founding of a Party' to Film at Kremlin, CRI
  21. ^ a b "Cadillac Sponsors Communist Propaganda Film", China Auto Web. (2 September 2010).
  22. ^ Currie, Kelley (blog, 23 September 2010). "GM's Cadillac Sponsors Chinese Propaganda Film". The Weekly Standard
  23. ^ Picket, Kerry (blog, 17 May 2011). "GM sponsors and celebrates soon to be released Chi-Com propaganda film", The Washington Times
  24. ^ 9 June 2011, Theme song of the Founding of a Party – One Day, China.org.cn
  25. ^ 19 June 2011, 《建党伟业》两天收5千万 追究网上盗播, QQ Entertainment
  26. ^ 何燕文, 19 June 2011, 上映三天冰城票房突破百万元年轻人观《建党伟业》引爆暑期高票房, Sohu
  27. ^ a b Ford, Peter (11 July 2011) "How to ensure a movie becomes a blockbuster in China? Trickery" Christian Science Monitor.
  28. ^ "Beginning of a great film controversy", 7 July 2011, The Standard
  29. ^ Zhao Kun, 17 June 2011,Movie Review: Beginning of the Great Revival, Global Times
  30. ^ 17 June 2011, 『建党伟业』票房目标10亿惟网民劣评如潮. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
  31. ^ Michael Kan, 'Web Ratings Disabled for Chinese Communist Party Film', PC World, 22 June 2011.
  32. ^ Global Voices, 'China: Mixed Reactions to Communist Party Movie Epic', 17 June 2011.
  33. ^ Yau Lop-Poon, '建黨偉業的未竟之業'. Translation available at "Long live the workers", China Media Project.

External links