Mao Zedong 1949
决胜时刻
China, 2019, colour/b&w, 2.35:1, 138 mins.
Supervising director: Huang Jianxin 黄建新.
Director: Ning Haiqiang 宁海强.
Rating: 7/10.
Superior PRC 70th anni production, smoothly assembled and also involving on a human level.
STORY
Beiping [modern-day Beijing], 25 Mar 1949. At the age of 56, Mao Zedong (Tang Guoqiang) arrives by train two months after the city’s liberation – and 30 years after last seeing it. He and other CPC officials, including chief aide Zhou Enlai (Liu Jin) and PLA commander-in-chief Zhu De, are housed in a secluded villa on Xiangshan (Fragrant Hills), northwest of the city. Meng Fanyu (Wang Likun), a rookie announcer on Xinhua radio, announces Mao & Co.’s arrival and the forthcoming push across the Yangtze river to complete the liberation of southern China from Nationalist rule. Meanwhile, in Xikou, Zhejiang province, south of Shanghai, former Nationalist leader Jiang Jieshi (Ma Xiaowei) is visiting his ancestral home after resigning from the presidency in January. He is told by secret-service head Mao Renfeng (Zhang Hanyu) that their spies have lost track of where Mao Zedong is staying in Beiping. Jiang Jieshi privately admits he has doubts about ever winning the Civil War. In Beiping, young soldier Chen Youfu (Huang Jingyu), already known to Mao Zedong, is put in charge of the latter’s safety between Xiangshan and the city; everyone is on the lookout for top Nationalist spy Dai Pengcheng, aka Sailimao (Cao Bingkun), who answers directly to Mao Renfeng and is known to be in Beiping. Chief Nationalist negotiator Zhang Zhizhong (Liu Zhibing) flies into Beiping with his team for peace talks, hosted by Zhou Enlai, that start on 13 Apr. On the Yangtze river, acting Nationalist president Li Zongren (Pu Cunxin) inspects defences on the southern bank in view of the PLA’s expected crossing. In Xikou, Jiang Jieshi tells Mao Renfeng to go to Beiping to carryout a mass-assassination plan, including Mao Zedong, but the order is cancelled by a senior aide to Jiang Jieshi. Despite that, an assassination attempt by Sailimao on PLA deputy chief of staff Nie Rongzhen (Lin Yongjian) almost derails the peace talks. A Nationalist spy is discovered in the Xiangshan villa’s grounds but Mao Zedong still insists on going into Beiping to hear renowned opera singer Mei Lanfang (Hu Wenge) at a public performance, along with other CPC high-ups. A peace deal is taken back to the Nationalist government in Nanjing with a 20 Apr deadline for signing. In Beiping, Chen Youfu again spots Sailimao in the street but loses him. On 20 Apr, in the so-called Yangtze Incident, UK navy vessel HMS Amethyst is shelled by PLA forces from the north bank. Jiang Jieshi orders Li Zongren not to sign the peace deal – against the latter’s wishes – and on 21 Apr, under Mao’s orders, the PLA launches the Yangtze River Crossing Campaign. After Nanjing falls two days later, the struggle passes to Shanghai, where CPC sympathiser Song Qingling (Qin Lan), wife of the late Song Zhongshan and elder sister of Jiang Jieshi’s wife Song Meiling (Zhou Tao), is based. Following that, Mao Renfeng still has a final act of terrorism planned for the PRC founding ceremony in the newly-renamed Beijing on 1 Oct.
REVIEW
A surprisingly involving – and unbombastic – account of the months leading up to the PRC’s founding, Mao Zedong 1949 决胜时刻 is among the best of the historical productions commissioned for the 70th anniversary, as well as functioning as a kind of back-room version of the crucial Yangtze River Crossing Campaign 渡江战役 that was the focus of the much more routine flag-waver Towards the River Glorious 打过长江去, released a month later. Box office was a modest but face-saving RMB124 million (six times that of Glorious), but the film is most notable for its unstodgy performances, smooth integration of historical fact and fictional flourishes, and highly polished technique. All show the skilful hand of veteran director/writer/producer Huang Jianxin 黄建新, 65, who takes senior credit over official director Ning Haiqiang 宁海强, 77, a solid but uninspired military-drama specialist at August First Film Studio (Sky Fighters 歼十出击, 2011; Peacekeeping Force 中国蓝盔, 2018).
Before ascending to his present veteran status, Huang spent his first 20 years as a director (1985-2005) on a remarkable series of movies that took a surreal or ironic look at everyday Mainland life (The Black Cannon Incident 黑炮事件, 1985; Stand Up, Don’t Bend Over 站直啰 别趴下, 1993; Surveillance 埋伏, 1997; The Marriage Certificate 谁说我不在乎, 2001, among many). His skill at handling character, even in top-heavy commemorative productions, was already evident in The Founding of a Republic 建国大业 (2009) and Beginning of the Great Revival 建党伟业 (2011) – both co-directed with China Film Group then-head Han Sanping 韩三平 – and it can be seen in spades here in Mao, which could so easily have ended up as a clunky trudge through hallowed history. The only thing that’s still clunky is the film’s English title: the original Chinese means “The Deciding Moment”, which at least gives some clue to the content.
Unlike most of its kind, the film manages the difficult trick of using lookalike actors without making them appear to be just stuffed dummies. Lead Tang Guoqiang 唐国强, 67, has made a career out of portraying historical characters, including five previous portrayals of Mao Zedong (e.g. The Long March 长征, 1996; The Founding of a Republic), and here makes him a genial but authoritative figure in a very undemonstrative way. Ditto Zhou Enlai lookalike Liu Jin 刘劲, 56 – seen only a few months earlier in Zhou Enlai Returned to Yanan 周恩来回延安 (2019) – whose faithful sidekick functions as a more emotional version of the Chairman during the protracted peace negotiations between the two sides. In a surprisingly sympathetic portrayal of Nationalist leader Jiang Jieshi [Chiang Kai-shek], Ma Xiaowei 马晓伟, 58, channels a mixture of disappointment and desperation, while Liu Zhibing 刘之冰, 57, is especially good as the chief Nationalist negotiator torn between duty, commonsense, and personal respect for Zhou Enlai. Among the many cameos by mainstream actors, Zhang Hanyu 张涵予 brings a touch of menace as the Nationalists’ ruthless secret-service head, underplaying like all the cast.
The performances fit the script by veteran playwright/scriptwriter He Jiping 何冀平 (Flying Swords of Dragon Gate 龙门飞甲, 2011; Hidden Man 邪不压正, 2018), Huang himself (under his regular pseudonym Huang Xin 黄欣) and Wang Qingwei 王青伟 (Zhou Enlai Returned to Yanan), which, beyond the historical stuff, focuses on Mao Zedong’s empathy with younger people and his several children, standing above the narrower concerns of immediate politics. It may or may not be accurate but, in film terms, provides an emotional, personalised spine that would normally be absent from a simple historical tableau. It’s one of many touches that show the writers thinking beyond the cliches of rote hagiographies.
Similarly, the well-spotted score by Liu Ye 刘晔 (Always 爱未央, 2013; Twenty 二十岁, 2018) and Shu Nan 舒楠 (Beginning of the Great Revival) is largely low-key, giving real shape and emotion to the film and avoiding simple bombast. The first real action comes only 80 minutes in, with the shelling of HMS Amethyst and the subsequent crossing of the Yangtze river. Here again, much of the imagery riffs on traditional war action, going for memorable visuals rather than just acres of explosions. (Throughout, the widescreen photography by Shao Dan 邵丹, who’s worked on both commercial and arty productions, is beautifully textured and composed.) Huang & Co. reserve their biggest coup for the movie’s final minutes, cutting to immaculately colourised footage of the actual people at the PRC founding ceremony. It’s a tribute to the foregoing two hours that the transition is not jolting in any way.
CREDITS
Presented by Beijing Bona Film Group (CN), Alibaba Pictures (Beijing) (CN), Huaxia Film Distribution (CN). Produced by Beijing Municipal Committee Publicity Department (CN), Beijing Bona Film Group (CN).
Script: He Jiping, Huang Xin [Huang Jianxin], Wang Qingwei. Photography: Shao Dan. Editing: Yu Baiyang. Music: Liu Ye, Shu Nan. Production design: Huo Tingxiao. Art direction: Sha Songsen. Styling: Yang Dan. Sound: Wang Chong. Action: Shen Huoxin. Visual effects: Ma Ding (Illumina Technology). Battle scenes: Wang Deqing. Artistic supervision: Zhang Heping. Executive direction: Wu Jincheng.
Cast: Tang Guoqiang (Mao Zedong), Liu Jin (Zhou Enlai), Huang Jingyu (Chen Youfu), Wang Likun (Meng Fanyu/Meng Yu, radio announcer), Ma Xiaowei (Jiang Jieshi/Chiang Kai-shek), Pu Cunxin (Li Zongren, Republic of China acting president), Liu Zhibing (Zhang Zhizhong, Nationalist chief peace negotiator), Zhang Hanyu (Mao Renfeng, Nationalist spymaster), Ma Tianyu (PLA war reporter), Wang Wufu (Zhu De, PLA commander-in-chief), Liu Sha (Liu Shaoqi), Wang Jian (Ren Bishi), Zhang Zijian (Li Kenong, CPC Central Military Commission Intelligence Agency head), Cao Bingkun (Dai Pengcheng/Sailimao, Nationalist spy), Gao Shuguang (Bai Chongxi, Republic of China Defence Committee head), Lv Xing (Jiang Jingguo, Jiang Jieshi’s son), Ye He (Tian Erqiao), Wulantuoya Duo (Li Ne, Mao Zedong’s younger daughter), Qin Lan (Song Qingling, Song Zhongshan’s wife), Sun Qian (Hong Xihou, Zhang Zhizhong’s wife), Zhou Tao (Song Meiling, Jiang Jieshi’s wife), Zhu Dan (announcer in street), Lin Yongjian (Nie Rongzhen, PLA deputy chief of staff), Nie Yuan (Luo Ruiqing, Beijing chief of police), Du Jiang (PLA regimental leader), Wu Haochen (Mao Anying, Mao Zedong’s eldest son), Wu Gang (Zhou Zhirou), Tian Yu (radio director), Hu Wenge (Mei Lanfang), Zhao Yi (Lin Biao), Zhang Jianya (Li Zheng, Nationalist peace negotiator), Ma Lun (Zhang Shizhao, Nationalist peace negotiator), Li Shilong (Shao Lizi, Nationalist peace negotiator), Cheng Zhiping (Cheng Siyuan, KMT member), Huang Wei (Deng Yingchao, Zhou Enlai’s wife), Xing Minshan (Deng Ruobo), Zhao Ningyu (Ye Fei), Yang Haoyu (spy), Gao Ge (Li Yinqiao), Chen Qiuling (nervous radio announcer), Zhang Xu (female spy), Jiang Defu (Dai Rongguang, Jiangyin Fortress commander), Hu Chenxi (Li Min, Mao Zedong’s elder daughter), Gu Wei (Chen Yi, PLA commander), Xiao Shaohang (Mao Zedong’s doctor), Shi Xin (Deng Xiaoping, CPC East China Department first secretary).
Release: China, 20 Sep 2019.