Jackie Chan’s 100th film captures epic historic event in 1911

By Mike Shames
[senior entertainment writer]

Grade: A

History is a far better writer of drama and epic events than anything a Hollywood writer could create. One of the most dramatic and significant moments in world history was the end of Imperial China, an empire that existed before Rome and lasted until the early 20th century.

This October is the 100th anniversary of the rebellion that ended this 2000-year-old institution and 1911 attempts to capture the epic nature of this event, with the help of Jackie Chan in his 100th film.

One of the main problems with a movie trying to capture such a huge event is time. This film runs just a little short of two hours. As a result, the film jumps around a lot and can be confusing to watch, even if you speak Mandarin–yes, the film is Mandarin with English subtitles. The Chinese exchange student that accompanied me was almost as lost as I was, and equally annoyed at all the explanatory text. These served to fast forward the events in the movie, but at the time it seemed to simply gloss over events–which confused us more and left us wondering on several occasions “what happened?”

Granted this isn’t an exclusive problem to this film, it’s the curse of many historical dramas. The events are usually so expansive that it’s impossible to do it justice in a two- or three-hour movie.

The look of the movie is grand and epic, while still having a sense of realism of the tragedy and the significance of what was achieved. The tragic part is interesting since the movie is aimed partially at a Chinese audience. But the version China will see will be edited by the Chinese Communist Party censors.

The battle scenes aren’t overly graphic but still remain gritty and realistic.  The film and its sets are beautiful and, though limited, still convey the national scope of the revolution.

Again, it can get confusing as to where all the players are at any particular time, even with the help of supplementary text.

The other problem is the sheer number of characters, though this may be due to the fact that I speak English and have to read and watch at the same time.
Even so, there were two main characters that I could easily identify, and one was Jackie Chan.

Winston Chao portrays Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the first President of the Republic of China and Jackie Chan is Huang Xing, a key military figure in the revolution. Chan is greatly down-played in every scene, he is rarely the main focus.

Chao is the one the camera follows the most, and Chao commands the screen so well, even stealing the show from Chan. Chan does get to show off some of his signature moves, but even this is restrained to one brief scene.

Despite this, Chan shows a great depth and understanding of a dramatic role. When he is on the screen with anyone else, it’s him who is firmly in the spotlight.

Both actors make the roles come to life and connect with the audience. You really feel like you’re in the presence of greatness.

There are some liberties taken by the director, but unless you know your Chinese history, these aren’t too distracting. With the exception of the one lonely American, who’s acting was so bad it was torture every second he was on screen. It’s like reading a great novel and then someone slaps an ad in the middle of a plot point–you’re completely torn out of the experience.

Fortunately his scenes are few and very far between. The rest of the cast can be slightly over-dramatic at times but never too much to make it cheesy. For the most part they are also excellent.

Although 1911 is trying to encompass a huge moment in history, it does it very well. A little confusing sometimes but the cast is strong, and the writing solid.

The general feel of the movie is restrained grandeur, from the sets to the acting and violence. With a few hiccups, this movie is a must see, and definitely award-worthy. Go see it.