When I have no option but to get on a plane, I prefer to travel with Air China, doing my bit for the cause. But one of the few pleasures is to wake up from a groggy, drug-induced sleep, and find a decent film to see me over the final dopey hours. What exactly is a decent film? One that would be worthy of the Stalin Prize, of course. And only on Air China can you find such a film. Celebrating 90 years since the foundation of the Chinese Communist Party is The Beginning of the Great Revival. It has Mao and Lenin and Zhou Enlai and Li Dazhao, the man who studied and introduced Marxism to China in the 1910s and whose statue I have seen on the campus of Peking University (see below). Needless to say, I loved every minute of it, so it becomes a nomination for the revived Stalin Prize.
And Li Dazhao
26 December, 2011 at 11:52 pm
This is amazing! I’m ordering this DVD right away
27 December, 2011 at 11:42 am
In the UK it’s promoted on DVD as an action movie starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li. Seriously. There are some rather disappointed viewers as a result.
27 December, 2011 at 8:17 pm
The UK is going down the gurgler, seriously. Anyway, you ain’t (generally) in the UK. You’re in England. Remember ‘England’.
28 December, 2011 at 7:28 pm
Diligent vigilance, comrade.
If you are aware of the film being marketed in a different way, even relying on the name of Mao Light Of The Orient rather than Jackie Chan (who you might remember from films such as Shanghai Noon), please advise.
This may have the case for agitating amongst the toiling peasants of the Welsh coal fields or the indefatigable tin miners of the sovereign nation of Cornwall, for example.
27 December, 2011 at 8:19 pm
Remy, it’s pretty bloody good, full of a Chinese movie stars, epic narrative, and a celebration of communism. Can’t wait for the century celebration. I think I’ll make sure I am there for that one. Why can’t Hollywood produce something like this? No, wait a minute, Hollywood’s incapable of something like this.
27 December, 2011 at 8:12 pm
Do you mean upload or download?
27 December, 2011 at 9:00 pm
You’ll have to send it to me, I’m afraid, or give a link.