The Opium War
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China and Britain refight Opium War on film
BEIJING (Reuter) China and Britain refought their 19th century Opium War on celluloid Monday as Beijing premiered a statebacked movie aimed at educating a new generation in British villany and Chinese humiliation. In a ceremony more akin to a Communist Party conference than a first night in Hollywood, officials and selected school children joined to watch Britain triumph over a decaying Qing dynasty (16441911) and steal sovereignty over Hong Kong. Officials hailed the ``The Opium War'' as a major event in China's film history and a contribution to national efforts to mark the return of Hong Kong to Beijing rule after 156 years of colonial control from London. ``Our film workers can make 'The Opium War' a special gift for the motherland and people, to ensure we and our descendants through film forever remember the humiliation the nation once suffered,'' said the film's director, Xie Jin, in a speech. Xie has compared the 184042 Opium War, which was triggered by Beijing's attempts to stop Western imports of the narcotic, to Germany's massacre of the Jews during World War II and China's own ultraleftist 196676 Cultural Revolution. While the director has said his movie is not propaganda, the presence at the premier of Li Tieying, a member of the elite Politburo, and Foreign Minister Qian Qichen was proof of approval from China's cultural commissars. Soldiers selected to attend the showing sat to attention as British warships shelled Qing forts weakened by centuries of isolationism although some of the filmwatching troops slumped in their seats as the twoandahalfhour epic wore on. Western wickedness was given a bigscreen, fullcostume outing in the movie, whose $12 million budget gave it cinematic options far beyond most underfunded Chinese films. Sexual encounters between British opium traders and officers and the winsome Chinese heroine played by actress Gao Yuan were played for their imperialist overtones, but the film also did not gloss over the capricious cruelty of the Qing dynasty. Nor were the British painted as uniformly malicious, pointed out 14yearold schoolboy Wang Jin after the performance. ``Before the war they all voted, and there were also votes against,'' said Wang, who attended along with his 'Opium War' Tshirtclad classmates from a Beijing school. The hero of the hour was Qing official Lin Zexu, who sparked the war by destroying 3.0 million lbs. of Westernowned opium and flushing it into the sea in 1839. While Lin is now revered for his battle against the drug trade and his resistence to Western power, an appalled Qing emperor rewarded his efforts with internal exile. Despite Lin's trials, the film showed him as having clear foresight of the cost of appeasement and the need to abandon China's traditional disinterest in barbarians from abroad. ``(The Westeners') clothing may look bad, but it does make movement easier,'' a robewearing Lin sighs as he heads into exile, concluding it was unwise to belittle such nations. While the premiere audience was at pains to pour praise on ``The Opium War,'' not all Chinese viewers were impressed. ``Technically, it's very bad,'' said one former filmmaker, who attended an earlier test screening. Unconcerned by such criticism, film mandarins have slated the film for nationwide release ahead of the midnight June 30 Hong Kong handover. Movie theaters are not the only place patriotic Chinese will be able to refight the war the official ``Opium War'' computer game is scheduled to hit the stores this month.
The Opium War
Directed by Xie Jin. The Opium War (film) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Opium War is a 1997 Chinese historical epic film directed by Xie Jin. The Opium War Synopsis – Plot Summary – Fandango.com The events leading up to Great Britain’s take-over of Hong Kong provide the basis of this epic Chinese historical drama that distinguishes itself from similarly. Actors: Guoan Bao: Lin Zexu · Debra Beaumont: Queen Victoria · Oliver Cotton · Nigel Davenport · Rob Freeman · Emma Griffiths Malin: Mary. Actors: Peter Bussian: Don Johnson · Joe Suba: Joe Harris · Fawad Samani: Scorpion · Jawanmard Paiez · Marina Golbahari · Hamid Hozouri. The-Opium-War – Trailer – Cast – Showtimes – NYTimes.com An overview of The Opium War, including cast and credit details, a review summary, and more. Opium War (2008) – IMDb Director: Siddiq Barmak. Film: The Opium War (1997) | Chinese Movie Database Film: The Opium War ya1 pian4 zhan4 zheng1 (1997) | Chinese Movie Database The Opium War Movie (1997) – ReelzChannel – Movie Trailers, News. The Opium War (1997) – Overview – MSN Movies The events leading up to Great Britain’s take-over of Hong Kong provide the basis of this epic Chinese historical drama that distinguishes itself from similarly. The Opium War (1997) Trailer, Review, Video Clips, Interviews, Starring Bao Guoan, Lin Liankun, Su Min, Sihung Lung, Bob Peck, Simon Williams. The Opium War (1997) – IMDb Director: Jin Xie. The Opium War | Trailer and Cast – Yahoo! Movies The story of Qing Dynasty official Lin Zexu and his battle against British imperialist is set at the start of 1838 during the first hints of the conflict that would. . The Opium War Plot Summary and Details | Moviefone The events leading up to Great Britain’s take-over of Hong Kong provide the basis of this epic Chinese historical drama that distinguishes itself from similarly. The winner of the 1997 Golden Rooster and 1998 Hundred Flowers Awards for Best Picture,
Opium Wars: The Movie
The most expensive Chinese movie ever made is a recently released two-and-a-half hour blockbuster drug drama about “The Opium Wars”, a true and important part of world history. With a budget of $20 million US and a cast of thousands, Chinese film director Xie Jin pulls no punches telling the long awaited Chinese side of this first volley of violence that started the global “War on Drugs” a century and a half ago. This Chinese government production clearly implicates the white-ghost foreigners as the bad guys who used opium as a crowbar to knock the Chinese people senseless as a prelude to snatching Hong-Kong. Director Jin’s cinematic portrayal of this thoroughly rotten aspect of east/west relations still shows deep scars in the hearts of a billion Chinese, and it is curious that “The Opium Wars” was released just prior to the ceremonies that restored Hong Kong to China earlier this year. It is easily the hit film of the year in China. Dope… danger… subtitles? How could it miss? Yet it did miss general distribution in both Europe and America. No doubt the theme of shame is unfathomable to the cult of victims and cinema fornica devotees in the western media savanna. As a rule, Chinese “social message movies” do not find wide acceptance outside the workers’ paradise cinema, unless they are quaint peasant struggle dramas or kickboxing flicks(note). After all, what could a billion people know about dope anyway? Maybe we don’t have the guts to see and find out for ourselves… Movies are the aircraft carriers of culture and the capacity of movies to impact on social consciousness is taken very seriously by button pushers whose task it is to introduce films into circulation. Whoever writes the cheque calls the program and no political system can be easily convinced to accept criticism from the outside, even if it is true. Maybe they will listen to the soundtrack, though. “The Opium Wars” made a rare New World screening with other controversial cinema from China recently at Trent University, where it was the jewel of a 3-day Asian film festival this summer. Director Jin presented his lavish production in conjunction with the movie “Face Off” by Hollywood’s new favourite film director John Woo. As “The Opium Wars” tends to offend community standards on top floors of mighty office buildings from London to Los Angeles, it is not a likely candidate for general release in the west in the near future. You will not be seeing this movie between sips of cappuccino or mitt-fulls of popcorn, as no big-buck western film distributor will go near this chase the dragon, do not pass go, do not collect $200 in the monopoly board game offerings on the silver screen.
Knowledge Graph
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1 Share Your Comments About "The Opium War" With Your Friends
2 It is a common opinion that after the opium war, China began to fall into the semi-colony society.
3 Starting from the Opium War, because of the corruption of the Qing Dynasty, China was subjected to aggression and enslavement by foreign powers and reduced to a semi-colonial, semi-feudal status.