There are probably enough plots from Chinese history for several dozen disaster movies, mystical thrillers, sad tales of a lost paradise, and multi-volume epics. That’s what Chinese (and not only) filmmakers have been doing successfully for years. We tell you about the most fascinating pages of Chinese history transferred to the big screens.
Chi bi, 2008.
Country: China, Hong Kong, Japan
Genres: War, Historical, Biography
Not just a historical film, but a full-blown epic about the origins of China. One of the most important writers of national cinema, John Woo has brought to the screen a seminal Oriental literary work – the 14th century novel “The Three Kingdoms” by Lo Guanzhong. So the sweep of the story of where the land of China came from is evident in The Battle of Red Rock.
The result: the history of unification of disparate states into unified China is shown here with all imaginable scope and in the format of a spectacular war drama with spectacular duels, massive battle scenes and breathtaking panoramas. Wu spares no expense to make the viewer watch with open mouth as the small kingdoms defend themselves against the imperial armies led by the conniving politician Cao Cao.
Ying, 2018.
Country: China, Hong Kong
Genres: Drama, Action
An incredibly beautiful and expressive costume drama by the true king of the genre, the great Zhang Yimou. Like The Battle of Red Cliff, The Shadow is a story from the colorful and legendary times of the Three Kingdoms, the controversial unity of the three states within the borders of China. Yimou builds an entire plot, complex and polyphonic, on just one fact.
In ancient times, warlords and aristocrats were supposed to have a double who would fight for them on the battlefield and risk his own life to create glory for his lords. Imou superimposes the intrigue of the relationship between the shadow and its master, slave and master, on real historical events, ancient stories and tales, resulting in a broad panorama of a harsh feudal world built on blood and doomed to perdition. The film premiered in out of competition at the Venice Film Festival. Yimou won the Golden Lion twice before, in 1992 for “Qiu Qiu Goes to Court,” and in 1999 for “Not One Less.
The Last Emperor, 1987
Countries: China, Italy, UK
Genres: Drama
Paradoxically, a great film power was given one of the major statements on national history by a foreigner. Bernardo Bertolucci, the outstanding storyteller and master of visual games, could not get past the dramatic and touching story of the last ruler of the Chinese Empire, the minor Pu Yi. In his interpretation, the biography of the little boy who became the lord of the empire became a legend of power that destroys and corrupts.
Xin hai ge ming, 2011
Country: China, Hong Kong
Genres: Action, Adventure, Drama
The most unusual work of the king of action comedy Jackie Chan. Not only did he sit in the director’s chair, he also played the portrait role of Huang Xing, the founder of the army of the Republic of China. Chan’s portrayal is exemplary in its historical revolution: a chronicle of how a fire ignites from a spark and a storm erupts from a single protest that sweeps away a thousand-year-old empire, decrepit and mired in petty squabbles, formalities and ceremonies.
There are also expressive portraits of the main characters, shown with all conceivable expressiveness and impact: the warrior Huang Xin, the democrat Sun Yat-sen, and the revolutionary dictator Yuan Shikai.
The White Countess, 2005.
Country: USA, UK, China
Genres: Drama
Hardly the most curious look at Chinese history – at least because here it is attempted to make sense of it exclusively by foreigners. The plot is based on the novel of the same name by Kazuo Ishiguro, a Japanese living in Britain and a Nobel Prize winner. The source material was translated onto the screen by Briton James Ivory, with Ralph Fiennes and Natasha Richardson in the lead roles.
Empire of the Sun, 1987.
Country: USA
Genres: Drama, Historical, War
Another film which was an important contribution to the historical genre in Chinese cinema was Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster starring a young Christian Bale. While Bertolucci gave Chinese cinema an epic scope and theatricality, Spielberg managed to put the stories of one of the most closed countries in the world into a global context.
Jin ling shi san chai, 2011
Country: China, Hong Kong
Genres: Drama
Barely the biggest and most dramatic blockbuster based on national history. The acclaimed Chinese director Zhang Yimou, who also directed the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics, chronicled the bloody and gruesome Nanjing Massacre using every imaginable means of expression: Christian Bale in the title role, visionary cameraman Zhao Xiaoding and writer Yan Gelin’s sweeping narration. The result is an exceptionally moving, complex, contradictory story of wandering and rescue during a global cataclysm.