Movie Review – 1911

Hi all… it’s been awhile since my last post. Sorry for the busy days, all mixed up, work, family, relation, friends, emotionally mixed up too. But I’m ok, slowly keeping my life back into track.

Despite the chaos, I manage to get some time with myBoo to watch latest movie by Jackie Chan, titled 1911. Frankly to me, the number itself (1911) brings a significant to my life. And since this is a 100^th movie by Jackie Chan, I don’t want to miss it.

Jackie Chan's 100th Movie - 1911

We watched it on Saturday, at GSC Pavilion KL. The movie is a historical piece of The 1911 Revolution or also known as Xinhai Revolution. Co-stars include Chan's son Jaycee Chan, Li Bingbing, Winston Chao, Joan Chen and Hu Ge. The movie filming was taken place at Fuxin, Liaoning. It’s a war film, so no one could expect a kung fu battle here. From 5 stars, I would give this movie 2.5 star.

Synopsis: At the beginning of the 20th century, China is in a state of crisis. The country is split into warring factions, the citizens are starving, and recent political reforms have made matters worse, not better. The ruling Qing Dynasty, led by a seven-year-old emperor, and his ruthless mother, Empress Dowager Longyu (Joan Chen) is completely out of touch after 250 years of unquestioned power.

With ordinary citizens beginning to revolt openly, the Qing Dynasty has created a powerful, modern army (the "New Army") to quash any rebellion. But weapons are expensive, and desperate for cash, the Qing leaders are trading anything they can get their hands on with foreign countries… and selling China's future in the process.

Huang Xing (Jackie Chan) has recently returned from Japan, where he has studied the art of modern warfare. When he finds his country falling apart, he feels he has no choice but to pick up the sword, leading an increasingly desperate series of violent rebellions against the powerful Qing Dynasty and the New Army- several with tragic consequences.

From the walls of the Forbidden City to the battlefields of China, with no expense spared in production and no detail ignored in its quest for historical accuracy, 1911 is a true epic in every sense of the word.

At the eve of the Qing dynasty, Western powers exerted their spheres of influence and the resulting trade imbalance endangered the entire country. From the 1840 Opium War onward, Western Imperialists extended their control on Chinese soil. While parts of China were ruled by the feudal Qing court, other parts were administered as foreign colonies. Yet the Qing court continued to concede to foreign demands: the Manchus gave up land and control while exercising dictatorial powers over the Chinese people, creating great stress and strain on various social strata. The Western powers abused the Qing court to the extent that China was literally being overwhelmed, which alarmed many.

At the same time, Chinese people began to benefit from capitalism: business people accumulated wealth and a national consciousness on the political and economic front, reflecting the Chinese people's wish to be autonomous and their desire to live in a democratic society. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Chinese intellectual world had become aware of revolution and democracy and various organizations were established to promote these ideals: Xingzhonghui (Revive China Society), Huaxinghui (China Revival Society), Kexuebuxisuo (Science Night School) and Guangfuhui (Restoration League). On August 20, 1905, the Tongmenghui (Chinese Revolutionary Alliance) was established and Sun Yat-sen proclaimed its founding principles: "Repel the Tatar barbarians, revive China, establish a republic, and divide land equally." Tongmenghui's founding signaled a new revolutionary phase in the political development of China.