Weird things are starting to happen here in Beijing. The benevolent Chinese overlords are getting ready for the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China on October 1st, which is making the country’s already paranoid officials extra twitchy. While roads and airports are sporadically closed during the seemingly never-ending preparations for the big parade (the sight of tanks in Tiananmen Square is enough to bring tears to patriotic eyes), the cinemas have been chock full of the most jingoistic ‘we love China/everything’s okay’ films in years.
A prime example is The Founding Of A Republic, which opened last week and has been sent to every single cinema in Mainland China.
The movie’s co-director is Han Sanping – the chairman of the state-owned China Film Group (CFG) – who decided to make Founding, a film about the battles that lead to Mao taking power in 1949, as a “gift to the motherland”.
Han reportedly managed to assemble 172 ‘A-list’ actors for his epic and the credits do indeed read like a who’s who of Chinese cinema – Jet Li, Zhang Ziyi, John Woo and Jackie Chan are just a few of the big names who pop up in cameos throughout the film.
Gathering so many big hitters together for one film is quite an achievement (it took the World Trade Center disaster to get about half as many Hollywood players in a room together). But when you consider that the CFG essentially controls film production and distribution for the whole of China, being asked to be in its movie is the equivalent of Vito Corleone tapping you on the shoulder and saying, “Hey, remember when I said I might need a favour from you?”
Still, it’s amazing to see the likes of Chen Kaige act in this movie. The Farewell My Concubine director appears dressed as a member of the Red Army, screaming and firing a rifle into the air like a drunk at a Turkish wedding. It’s quite a turnaround for someone who began his career with movies (such as Yellow Earth) that infuriated the Chinese government and saw him labelled as a dissident filmmaker.
Other films out here this month that commemorate the anniversary include Tiananmen and The Message. The former is the story of the last-minute reconstruction of Tiananmen Square in 1949 so as to be ready for Mao Zedong’s speech announcing the founding of the PRC to the world. The film was made by CCTV, China’s national broadcasting company (which seems to have chosen its acronym without a trace of irony), and, judging by its production quality, was designed to be shown on TV rather than in cinemas.
With heaps more style, and assembling the few remaining stars who didn’t make it into The Founding Of A Republic, is The Message. Zhou Xun (Beijing Bicycle) and Li Bingbing (who played the white-haired witch in The Forbidden Kingdom) add some eye candy to this espionage thriller, which has taken most of its artistic cues from Lust, Caution by Ang Lee, but while it seems to be the freshest offering, again the plot concerns itself with the run-up to 1949 and little else.
But, as usual, measures have been taken by the powers that be to ensure that these films have a clear run at the box office. No big Hollywood films have been granted a release for the next few weeks, so the trio of Tiananmen, The Message and The Founding Of A Republic (which is scheduled to have a special extended run lasting until at least December) are going to absolutely rake it in.
I guess I’ll have to stock up on pirated DVDs until this shit storm blows over and the Chinese government agrees to grant audiences the likes of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen at the local multiplex again.
Simon Fowler is the film editor of Time Out Beijing and is currently writing a book on Chinese film.
