Updated Movie Review
October 12, 2011
1911, the Movie-A Tribute to the Heroes of China’s Democratic Revolution
By Arturo P. Garcia
What a way and time to remember, the centenary of China’s 1911 Revolution that overthrew one of the world’s longest empire- China's Qing Dynasty than to watch it in a movie.
This is a patriotic movie from Jackie Chan,who played the historical figure of the "eight fingered" General Huang Xing.He was just like the greatest Filipino General Antonio Luna. Like Luna, Huang has no formal military schooling. They both learned military tactics from friends in Japan and in Luna's case in Europe. But unlike Luna, Huang led the uprisings. Luna disdained the Katipunan but later joined the army of the 1st Republic and fought both the Spanish and American colonialist.
I tip my hat to actor Jackie Chan for his acting and portrayal of a Chinese revolutionary patriot in pursuit of change. He acted as historical figure , the Chinese revolutionary patriot and General Huang Xing and did his part well. This was his first serious film and he did justice to his historical role.
Of all places, we watched it in the Chinese Grumman theater, the first time I watch a movie in that place. I use to frequent the area but only during anti war or immigration rights demonstrations.
The 1911 Revolution Against the Qing Dynasty
For me, it is a good history lesson about China and the story of the Tongmenghui ( Unity League) , a revolutionary organization just like the Katipunan led by Dr. Sun Yat Sen ( Sun Wen in the film) and Huang Xing. In 1904 Sun Yat-sen came about with the goal to establish a Republic, and to distribute land equally among the people.
I realized i still have a lot to learn about the history of China for i only knew its history about its revolution form 1927 to 1949 and the later events after it. It is a humbling experience for me.
One of Sun's major legacy was the creation of his political philosophy of the Three Principles of the People, This included the principle of nationalism (minzu), of democracy (minquan), and of welfare (minsheng,).
He led raising funds for the revolution and on August 20, 1905 Sun joined forces with revolutionary Chinese students studying in Tokyo, Japan to form the unified group Tongmenghui ( or United League) which sponsored uprisings in China.
By 1906 the number of Tongmenghui members reached 963 people. In 1907 there were a total of four uprisings that failed.
From Failures to Success
The movie concentrated on the failed April 27, 1911 revolutionary General Huang Xing led a second Guangzhou ( also known as Canton. Filipinos has its local noodles called the Pancit Canton ) uprising known as the Yellow Flower Mound Revolt . The revolt failed and ended in disaster; the bodies of only 87 revolutionaries were ever found. The revolutionaries are remembered as the martyrs of the 1911 revolution.
The movie also depicted the October 10, 1911 a military uprising in Wuchang, in Hubei province led again by General Huang Xing At the time Sun had no direct involvement as he was still in exile. Huang was in charge of the revolution that ended over 2000 years of imperial rule in China.
The movie also showed the triumphant return of Sun after he learned of the success of the revolution from the United States. After this event October 10 became known as the commemoration of the “Double Ten”
Historical Inaccuracies and Inconsistencies
The movie conducted liberalism when it primariy shows that Sun was in San Francisco fund raising. and the movie watchers might think that the rebels were in the United States. While the truth, the base of their operations was in Singapore.
Another scene was that Sun learned of the Wuchang Uprising in San Francisco in a library when he read the news about the October 10 uprising in China,, while the true story was he was in Colorado at the time. They romanticize it that as if he was in San Francisco.
Another historical inaccuracy, the movie did not speak of the partnership between Filipino revolutionaries and the Chinese counterparts led by Sun and Huang Xing. They did not underscore that in the 1911 uprising in Guangzhou, they used the arms bought by the Katipunan from Japan and were smuggled to China.
Sun borrowed the Katipunan arms stocked piled in Japan thru his friend Filipino revolutionary Mariano Ponce. the arms were paid by the Katipunan and was not able to reach the Philippines during the 1896 Revolution. The arms was smuggled into China thru the port of Canton. Mao Zedong knows this fact that he made a point to repay the debt of gratitude to the Filipino people and help the later revolution in the Philippines.
Another inconsistency in the movie was the role of the Empress Dowager. Joan Chen was to beautiful and young to portray an aging Empress. But she did all right in her hysterics. But what they really underscore was the betrayal of the militarist
The film really made a good portrayal of the Qing General Yuan Shi Kai who was double dealer and who later proclaimed himself as China’s Emperor replacing the Qing Dynasty and who became a puppet of British and Japanese Imperialist.
For me who has shallow tear ducts, I have to fight back tears and drink a lot of water in order not to cry while watching the movie. It is really moving watching the sacrifices of the Chinese revolutionaries. They sacrificed all for systemic change and their ardent desire and selflessness is really exemplary.
Although the ending was tragic. For the reactionaries and the militarist won in the end, it showed the determination of people who desired change not to stop working for a meaningful change just like what Sun and Huang during their numerous exile and return to struggle over and over again despite the many failures.
It’s better version of Amigo, a film about the US imperialist war in the Philippines. Maybe because the Chinese government was involved and the whole Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) acted as extras in a historical film of epic proportion. A great way to celebrate the bourgeois national democratic revolution of 1911.
A lot bloodier though for China really has a bloody history from the building of the Great Wall to its unification of a nation and an empire and the revolutions from which the new modern China was born.
It is really worth watching.
***********
October 12, 2011
1911, the Movie-A Tribute to the Heroes of China’s Democratic Revolution
By Arturo P. Garcia
What a way and time to remember, the centenary of China’s 1911 Revolution that overthrew one of the world’s longest empire- China's Qing Dynasty than to watch it in a movie.
This is a patriotic movie from Jackie Chan,who played the historical figure of the "eight fingered" General Huang Xing.He was just like the greatest Filipino General Antonio Luna. Like Luna, Huang has no formal military schooling. They both learned military tactics from friends in Japan and in Luna's case in Europe. But unlike Luna, Huang led the uprisings. Luna disdained the Katipunan but later joined the army of the 1st Republic and fought both the Spanish and American colonialist.
I tip my hat to actor Jackie Chan for his acting and portrayal of a Chinese revolutionary patriot in pursuit of change. He acted as historical figure , the Chinese revolutionary patriot and General Huang Xing and did his part well. This was his first serious film and he did justice to his historical role.
Of all places, we watched it in the Chinese Grumman theater, the first time I watch a movie in that place. I use to frequent the area but only during anti war or immigration rights demonstrations.
The 1911 Revolution Against the Qing Dynasty
For me, it is a good history lesson about China and the story of the Tongmenghui ( Unity League) , a revolutionary organization just like the Katipunan led by Dr. Sun Yat Sen ( Sun Wen in the film) and Huang Xing. In 1904 Sun Yat-sen came about with the goal to establish a Republic, and to distribute land equally among the people.
I realized i still have a lot to learn about the history of China for i only knew its history about its revolution form 1927 to 1949 and the later events after it. It is a humbling experience for me.
One of Sun's major legacy was the creation of his political philosophy of the Three Principles of the People, This included the principle of nationalism (minzu), of democracy (minquan), and of welfare (minsheng,).
He led raising funds for the revolution and on August 20, 1905 Sun joined forces with revolutionary Chinese students studying in Tokyo, Japan to form the unified group Tongmenghui ( or United League) which sponsored uprisings in China.
By 1906 the number of Tongmenghui members reached 963 people. In 1907 there were a total of four uprisings that failed.
From Failures to Success
The movie concentrated on the failed April 27, 1911 revolutionary General Huang Xing led a second Guangzhou ( also known as Canton. Filipinos has its local noodles called the Pancit Canton ) uprising known as the Yellow Flower Mound Revolt . The revolt failed and ended in disaster; the bodies of only 87 revolutionaries were ever found. The revolutionaries are remembered as the martyrs of the 1911 revolution.
The movie also depicted the October 10, 1911 a military uprising in Wuchang, in Hubei province led again by General Huang Xing At the time Sun had no direct involvement as he was still in exile. Huang was in charge of the revolution that ended over 2000 years of imperial rule in China.
The movie also showed the triumphant return of Sun after he learned of the success of the revolution from the United States. After this event October 10 became known as the commemoration of the “Double Ten”
Historical Inaccuracies and Inconsistencies
The movie conducted liberalism when it primariy shows that Sun was in San Francisco fund raising. and the movie watchers might think that the rebels were in the United States. While the truth, the base of their operations was in Singapore.
Another scene was that Sun learned of the Wuchang Uprising in San Francisco in a library when he read the news about the October 10 uprising in China,, while the true story was he was in Colorado at the time. They romanticize it that as if he was in San Francisco.
Another historical inaccuracy, the movie did not speak of the partnership between Filipino revolutionaries and the Chinese counterparts led by Sun and Huang Xing. They did not underscore that in the 1911 uprising in Guangzhou, they used the arms bought by the Katipunan from Japan and were smuggled to China.
Sun borrowed the Katipunan arms stocked piled in Japan thru his friend Filipino revolutionary Mariano Ponce. the arms were paid by the Katipunan and was not able to reach the Philippines during the 1896 Revolution. The arms was smuggled into China thru the port of Canton. Mao Zedong knows this fact that he made a point to repay the debt of gratitude to the Filipino people and help the later revolution in the Philippines.
Another inconsistency in the movie was the role of the Empress Dowager. Joan Chen was to beautiful and young to portray an aging Empress. But she did all right in her hysterics. But what they really underscore was the betrayal of the militarist
The film really made a good portrayal of the Qing General Yuan Shi Kai who was double dealer and who later proclaimed himself as China’s Emperor replacing the Qing Dynasty and who became a puppet of British and Japanese Imperialist.
For me who has shallow tear ducts, I have to fight back tears and drink a lot of water in order not to cry while watching the movie. It is really moving watching the sacrifices of the Chinese revolutionaries. They sacrificed all for systemic change and their ardent desire and selflessness is really exemplary.
Although the ending was tragic. For the reactionaries and the militarist won in the end, it showed the determination of people who desired change not to stop working for a meaningful change just like what Sun and Huang during their numerous exile and return to struggle over and over again despite the many failures.
It’s better version of Amigo, a film about the US imperialist war in the Philippines. Maybe because the Chinese government was involved and the whole Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) acted as extras in a historical film of epic proportion. A great way to celebrate the bourgeois national democratic revolution of 1911.
A lot bloodier though for China really has a bloody history from the building of the Great Wall to its unification of a nation and an empire and the revolutions from which the new modern China was born.
It is really worth watching.
***********
