My experience of writing a game diary for Hearts of Iron 3 prompted me to do some extensive reading on the Chinese Civil War and the early years of the People’s Republic of China. Naturally, this led to seeking out and watching The Founding of a Republic, the 2009 historical film made to mark 60th anniversary of the country. So who says that videogames aren’t educational?

There is no doubt of course that this is a propaganda film. It was explicitly commissioned by the China’s film regulator and made by a state-owned film company. It’s main claim to fame outside of China is that it features dozens of celebrities, albeit mostly in very minor roles, all of whom worked for free, no doubt out of a sense of patriotism, or maybe just out of fear of causing offense and missing out of paid gigs. Yet within China itself, it has established itself as the highest grossing domestically produced film, suggesting that despite being propaganda, it is not entirely without merit.

It isn’t hard to see why it’s such an attractive package. Aside from all the star power, The Founding of a Republic is a beautifully shot, competently produced film. Tang Guoqiang and Zhang Guoli are both eminently believable as Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-Shek respectively. I even liked the use of old footage for the battle scenes which I think lent the film an air of historical veracity. The only nit I have to pick is an ostentatious overuse of CGI in a couple of scenes.

As educational material however, the film leaves much to be desired. In fact, it will be almost indecipherable to anyone who doesn’t already have a working knowledge of the events and persons depicted. Hundreds of characters are introduced simply by adding a sidebar listing their name and official position when they appear. No explanation at all is offered about the relationships between the characters and their prior history. This makes the material particularly difficult to digest especially since the film focuses on the political aspect of the struggle between the KMT and the CCP, rather than the actual war itself.

In one particularly confusing scene, the Communists angrily castigate each other over the death of a KMT general Feng Yuxiang. The scene makes sense only if you know that Feng was a left-leaning member of the KMT and a close personal friend of Zhou Enlai. Obviously the producers were more interested in making sure that no one of historical note would be left out of the film rather than trimming material to forge a more coherent narrative.

As for accuracy, the film’s bias is most evident in how strenuously it attempts to paint Mao Zedong in the most flattering possible light. The chairman is portrayed as being approachable, down to earth, friendly with peasants and children, wise, benevolent and even democratic, all of which is in stark contrast with what he really was like. Even the one scene in which he is depicted as being less than perfect, when a barely awake Mao has to be carried on a stretcher to a shelter while the village they’re in is being bombed by the KMT, apparently nearly got the film banned.

The film’s portrayal of Chiang Kai-Shek is far more interesting, especially since it includes scenes with Chiang and his relatives. True, Chiang and his clique are the villains of the show, but they are surprisingly sympathetic villains. Chiang, together with his wife and son, seem to be genuinely well-meaning and earnest in their own way towards the welfare of China. It is only the corruption of the KMT, not of Chiang himself, that is the cause of his downfall. As the reviewer from LoveHKFilm notes, it is instructive that the film shows that the KMT lost because of its own weakness but not because of the irresistible power of the communists. Perhaps the filmmakers wanted to send a message of their own to China’s current leaders?

The Founding of a Republic is by no means a good film and it’s a very poor starting point from which to learn about the history of modern China, but considering how few alternatives are available, those who are interested in the period might as well watch to get a feel for what things were like and who are these people were. Overall, it’s a surprisingly intelligent and impressive propaganda effort.