I went and watched a movie today： “建国大业” (“the great undertaking of nation building” – [sorry about the poor translation]).

In short, the plot is about the years that preceded the foundation of the People’s Republic of China on October 1st 1949. 毛泽东 (Mao Zedong) is its hero, with 蒋介石 (Jiang Jieshi or Chiang Kai-shek) being his natural antipode.

An average film, not very pretty, although it cost the producers an alleged shitload of money.

There are a few things that stand out about this movie though.

First of all, 毛泽东 is being depicted just as I like him best: perfectly cool, always outsmarting his opponents, and constantly smoking (idols coming to town). …well, this might not be so particular after all.

The second thing interesting about this movie is its cast – it looks like the elite of China’s film industry has been completely assembled, with some websites spotting a total of 172 (!) stars to appear during the 145 minutes of the film. (陈) 成龙 (Jackie Chan), 李连杰 (Jet Li), 章子怡 (Zhang Ziyi) might be among the most widely known in the Western hemisphere. Well, and if you liked “霸王别姬” (“farewell my concubine”) or ”荆轲刺秦王“ (“the emperor and the assassin”), then you might find it interesting to hear that 陈凯歌 (Chen Kaige) assisted in directing this one, among 3 other directors.

The third thing that stands out about this movie: It has come out only a couple of days prior to the 60th anniversary the P.R. China, during a time when Internet access has been confined to government-friendly sites, and travel has been limited as well in certain regions, so what else could this movie be but…

…complete brainwash?

Just to give you a taste: there is actually a part in the movie that shows sinister ongoings within the 国民党 (KMT or Chinese Nationalist Party) and then immediately cuts to a scene of 毛泽东 (Mao Zedong) and 周恩来 (Zhou Enlai) playing piggyback with little children in front of a backdrop of pink flowers and grass.

No need to elaborate, is there?

…or so I thought.

I spent the rest of the night going off about the immorality of the movie and the virtue of free thinking etc.etc.

Then I got out of the cab, walked up some stairs, said hi to the guard, and took the elevator up to the place I live.

It was only there in my room that I suddenly remembered another terrible movie I had seen before: “Independence Day” (1996).

And it suddenly dawned on me: they were exactly the same washing mashines!

There were just more watts in this one.

Soundtrack: 李双江 – “太阳最红，毛主席最亲” （Li Shuangjiang – “reddest sun, most beloved Chairman Mao”)