Epic Film Celebrates 1911 Revolution

“1911”， an epic film that recaptures a revolution that overthrew the rule of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and paved the way for China’s resuscitation and mod-ernization， is scheduled to screen across China on September 26， 2011， just few days before the National Day on October 1 The blockbuster is a joint venture of 26 organizations headed by Changchun Film Studio and Shanghai Film Group The ag-gregate investment is 100 million yuan

With a focus on the Wuchang Uprising in 1911， the film follows a truthful storyline and depicts many historical figures whereas it fleshes storyline out with fictitious de-tails Some experts consider the fictitious part a breakthrough in making history films The cinematic epic celebrates the 100th anniversary of the epoch-making event

The film was written by Wang Xingdong and Chen Baoguang， who also created the script for “Building of People’s Republic” in celebration of the 60th anniver-sary of the PR China in 2009 The director is Jackie Chan， a Hong Kong-based international film star The executive director is Zhang Li The producer is Wang Zhebin， a Zhejiang native Her husband Wang Xingdong is one of the two scriptwriters

The film is star-studded， starring 63 key characters that helped shape the history of the armed revolt in 1911 These characters include Dr Sun Yat-sen， Huang Xing， Xu Zonghan， Qiu Jin， Li Yuanhong， and Yuan Shikai The cast is composed of preeminent artists from the mainland as well as Taiwan， Hong Kong and Macao Jackie Chan plays Huang Xing， one of the founding members of the China Revival Union and the United League His son Fang Zuming (Jaycee Chan) played a young military officer in the armed revolt in Wuchang

Dr Sun Yat-sen is played by Zhao Wenxuan (Winston Chao)， a well-known Taiwan-based actor In his nearly 20-year film and television career， he has acted as Dr Sun Yat-sen three times In 1995， he appeared as Dr Sun in a film He appeared in a television drama that told a relatively complete story of the great revolutionary In a 2006 film， he characterized a truthful Dr Sun It is widely believed that he is the best actor for the modern interpretation of the historical figure Zhao himself regards his appearance in the new film as the best opportunity He explains that he grew up under the influence of Dr Sun Yat-sen His father is a member of a research association on Sun’s theories Zhao Wenxuan and his elder brother studied Dr Sun’s works in their childhood years

Li Bingbing， a young heartthrob who has starred in various blockbusters， acts as Xu Zonghan， the wife of Huang Xing It is said that competition for this role was fierce However， Li play a much important part in this film by working as a joint producer and supervisor As a producer， she does not receive a cent for her performance She will share some profit of the film It is the second time that Jackie Chan and Li appear as husband and wife in a film

Sun Chun， a preeminent mainland actor， plays Yuan Shikai， a warlord who repealed the Republic and proclaimed himself emperor of China in 1916 In the 2003 tel-evision drama “The Republic”， Sun Chun played the same character under guidance of director Zhang Li His characterization was considered the best highlight of the drama

The battle scenes were shot at an open coalmining pit in Fuxing， a coalmining powerhouse in Liaoning， a province in northeastern China The film directors searched up and down for a battle loca-tion They finally chose the open pit The open coalmining pit went into operation in 1953 and was the largest in Asia of that time It was shut down in 2005 after the coal was exhausted， leaving a huge hole in the ground The pit is 4 kilometers long， 3 kilometers wide， and 350 meters deep The open pit was designated a national park on July 27， 2009 It is now a perfect location for filming battle scenes as historical scenes can be set up without the fear of creating absurd anachronisms in the background

The filming of all the battle scenes started on September 15， 2010 The local government provided all the necessary support The location filming in Fuxing was done in fifteen days The crew went to Shanghai， Beijing， Nanjing， Tianjin and Wuhan to do more location shooting Part of filming was done in Britain and France， where Dr Sun Yat-sen and Huang Xing once stayed The most filming was done in studios

Though the coalmining site was ideal for reenacting historical battle scenes， actors experienced additional difficulties and hardships Strong winds at the dusty site created additional problems The first thing every crewmember did after a day’s work was taking a shower As the deep pit was by no means ideal for a mobile telephone signal， the crewmembers often found it difficult to access internet at the depth of 350 meters Anyone desperately running around in a bid to find a signal was described jokingly as trying to contact extraterrestrial beings

Jackie Chan stars as Huang Xing in the film and has an opportunity to show his kongfu stunt He stopped two assassins from killing Dr Sun Yat-sen on an ocean-going passenger liner on its way back to China Like all the kongfu scenes in his films， Jackie Chan did all the stunts without using any stand-in The kongfu stunt was done fifteen times until it was Okayed by the director

Though a large part of the 100 million went into the making of the battle scenes， the producers are confident that the film will make money The North American rights were purchased a few months ago by Well Go USA， an American film dis-tributor \"We are honored to be a part of '1911' on many levels， not only because of its historical significance， but also because it's Jackie's 100th film，\" Well Go president Doris Pfardrescher was quoted as saying The film is scheduled to hit USA on the same day when it is released in China □