1921

Many years ago a Chinese friend of mine said to me, quote, "You know so much more about China's background and history than I have ever known" unquote. Its because I have had a deep interest in the orient/South East Asia etc since I was very young. So when I say to you now that this film is absolutely incorrect for about 80% of the films story and content.

The telling of the formation and beginnings of the CPC/CCP (Chinese Communist Party) is so scrambled and utterly confusing, that even Chinese people themselves have no idea about what they have watched. It spent far too much time making itself look westernized and over the top glamorous. It was bad enough waiting for the long list of 27 production companies to complete in the films opening credits but, there was also way too many actors and parts being played. I'm surprised Donnie Yen, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Chow Yun-fat, Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi were not thrown in for good measure. After all, they had nearly everyone else from China's film stars A-List in the film!

Not true to historical facts and too uninformative of actual events and times. It gets 1 star from me purely for the good filming, lighting and sets etc.

The most based movie ever made. Really opened my eyes. You need to watch this movie to learn more about China today. 10/10 is not enough though. Seriously.

This film is not for people who want to understand the history. But if you have some knowlege on recent history of China, this movie is entertaining.

I've cried a bit on some scenes and find myself smiling every time The Internationale came in.

(Just rated 9, 'cause if i give full 10, the IMDb system will ignore it)

The opening credits list China Film Co. Ltd., Media Asia Films, Shanghai Film Group, and Tencent Pictures as production companies for this film. Thus the title of my review.

This movie runs over two hours but those two hours pass quickly as this story is presented. The film is beautifully photographed. All the actors are attractive and the costuming is glamorous! That's the good part of this movie!

Unfortunately it also ruins the movie! It seems every production company had their own idea of how this story should be presented. Thus everyone is too clean, settings too fancy, and the struggle and suffering of the founding members of the CCP is diminished. Post WW1 China may have been great for the wealthy but the workers, the everyday laborers, suffered - filth, sickness, hunger - and this fact is sorely missing in this movie.

Many times throughout the story the lack funding, to spread the word of the developing CCP, is mentioned. But everyone appeared well dessed and fed.

Plus the story line jumps around from China to Russia to France to wherever else. This made the story confusing at times and hard to follow. And when the movie ends you wonder why you watched it.