Beginning of the Great Revival (2011)

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Before deciding to watch "Beginning Of The Great Revival", I read some of the comments here on IMDb. Actually, I was quite stunt that a motion title released only recently had so many reviews, most of them filled with hatred and wrath. Something was out of place, and after seeing the movie itself, it's quite obvious what's at stake.The first an most mentioned fact is the 90th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party. I guess that was pretty obvious from the first title in the movie itself, and all those who found this to be insulting could just switch off the player or leave the cinema. If something is dedicated to the milestone of CCP, it's most probable that the content will be affirmative towards it.Next big argument is "the lack of story". This is often heard from people who have no knowledge of Chinese history or China what so ever. True, this is not a classical shallow saccharine polluted Hollywood style story, where everything has to be chewed and re branded, so the average redneck Joe with 10 bux in his pocket could get it into his head. "Beginning Of The Great Revival" is a semi documentary film, where the basic idea consisted of connecting certain historical turn points in modern Chinese history. Have the scriptwriters manage to make that connection well is a different question, since Chinese history in the first two decades of the 20th century was violent and turbulent, as the old empire collapsed and a new republic became to exist together with the Koumintang. That struggle continued in blood for the next 20 years, following Japan's invasion, and later a civil war between Communists and Chang Kai Shek. The story may not be fluent, but it can hardly be when so many historical moments have to be packed in a brief 2 hours. Is it historically partial? It undoubtedly is, since the Communist prevailed, and history is written by those who win. I guess Lincoln would be depicted as a thug in modern cinematography if South did rise again... Yet another problem with some viewers (though I suspect they managed to last the whole movie with attention) is Mao. You may like him or not, still he remains an important players in modern Chinese history as one of the CCP founders. Actually, his figure was not the main character in the movie, but I guess his plain appearance and mention is enough to hurt someone's feelings.This movie is widely criticized by those, whose hate is more or less directed towards communism in general and modern China, without much insight in history or reality. It's been a long time since I've seen so much negative energy directed towards a movie, and reading such comments actually entertains me. Funny...Concerning my point of view, I think the movie is decent. Not great, brilliant or unforgettable, but plain decent. Actors did a fair job, visual experience was up to the task, and the historical moments were brought to life in a depicting manner. Does "Beginning Of The Great Revival" deserve 10 stars? By all means no. Still, I decided to give this rating only in defiance towards haters who hardly see beyond their short noses.BTW, even with all Maoist propaganda, "Beginning Of The Great Revival" is more historically accurate and pleasant to watch than for instance that "The Kennedys" piece of sludge.

i note with sadness that every review here is from the USA and appears to be a political statement and nothing to do with the movie per se. statements such as "china is a military state" are pathetic when you consider the aggressiveness of Americans and their military state!where are the comments on acting, cinematography, musical score, etc....i do not think in many cases a westerner can judge a foreign movie if you are going to be so biased about that countries' political system!i do not see Americans lambasting their pathetic greedy monetary system that has enveloped the world in GFC in movies about some American hero in any movie about the stock exchange for example......go live in china for a year or more before you critisise!not such a bad movie..... acting passable...story line is montage and example only for reminder to the people as to the origins of cpc.

I grew up in China, and I wanna say, this is NOT old-style Chinese propaganda film. The young screen writer did a great job to show the true history at that time. Many people may not like communist, but this movie does not talked about how good the communist is, but about why and how the Chinese Communist was developed in China. If you are interested at China modern history, and wanna know more about Chinese people, this is good movie for you. The other interesting part is the screen writer, who is also a popular Chinese novel writer, and one of his book was banned by Chinese government, because it talked about Chinese political revolution.

I don't think this movie is intended for non-Chinese, who weren't taught that history (1910-1949) in China. Here is the logic. The Qing Dynasty, a symbol of Feudalism, had already resigned. The Beiyang government was good at selling nation's interest and shooting at students. Sun Yat-sen was too fragile to lead China. KMP was totally corrupted and lead the whole country into disaster. So only CCP could represent Chinese people's interest and lead China. (Don't raise your hands. Recite them and we'll have tests tomorrow.) Such series(foundation of party/government) are just a film version of history books.