Factual inaccuracies turn historical flick ‘Founding of an Army’ into a fiasco
HONG Kong director Andrew Lau ( Infernal Affairs) has a state-backed celebration of the Chinese military into a genreinfused blockbuster.
But it’s largely marred by historical inaccuracies.
In theory, Founding of an Army is part of an ongoing, officially sanctioned Chinese film series about the country’s recent history, a follow-up to The Founding of a Republic ( 2009, about the establishment of the communist state in 1949) and Beginning of the Great Revival ( 2011, about the formation of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921).
In practice, however, the film should be seen as Bona Film Group’s latest attempt to rework China’s dogmatic, verbose and thoroughly pro- establishment “main melody cinema” into a bona fide blockbuster. Just like the company’s two previous neo-propaganda outings, The Taking of Tiger Mountain ( 2014) and Operation Mekong ( 2016), directed by Hongkongers Tsui Hark and Dante Lam respectively, The Founding of An Army is a genre-fuelled spectacle with scintillating action scenes and self- sacrificing heroes aplenty.
Directed by Andrew Lau of Infernal Affairs fame, it is carefully calibrated to fascinate China’s young cinemagoing demographic, casting the country’s most popular heartthrobs to strike poses and play hero in the film’s stupendously choreographed battle scenes. Such star power and firepower is perhaps necessary to attract younger generations with minimum knowledge or interest of the political upheavals and chicanery of 1920s China.
Whatever its domestic results, Army might face an uphill battle beyond its own shores, apart from the traction it might receive from the overseas Chinese diaspora and fans of the director and his cast.
Historians and film academics can analyse Army’s meaning and political relevance at length. One surprise is the positive representation of a young Lin Biao, whom the Chinese authorities still consider a power-hungry usurper who spearheaded the chaos of the Cultural Revolution. Another pastime could be comparing Army’s artistic and political point of view with that of other summertime war blockbusters such as Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk and Ryoo Seung-wan’s Battleship Island.
Army is anchored in three historical events of 1927, deployed here to represent the Chinese Red Army’s foundational myths: its revolutionary credo, military prowess and moral selflessness.
Linking the set pieces are the scenes depicting the conversations, collaborations and conspiracies involving the major political figures on both sides of the political divide. Liu Ye, who starred in Revival, returns as the roguish, romantic and guru-like Mao Zedong.
In addition to some slight adjustments to the official historical accounts of the communist struggle in China in the 1920s, purists might baulk at how Zhou Enlai (Zhu Yawen), Lin Biao ( Ma Tianyu), Chiang Kai- shek ( Wallace Huo), Soong Mei-ling (Zhang Tianai) and Deng Xiaoping ( Dong Zhijian) dress, walk and talk.