The Founding of an Army


The Founding of an Army is a 2017 Chinese historical film commissioned by China's government to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army. Produced by Han Sanping and directed by Andrew Lau, it is the third installment of the trilogy called Founding of New China after The Founding of a Republic and The Founding of a Party. The film features a star-studded cast of Chinese actors. It was released on July 28, 2017 to mark the 90th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army.

Plot

The story begins in 1927 at the beginning of the Nanchang uprising, known as the first major Kuomintang–Communist engagement.

Cast

Critical response

On July 25, 2017, the film was criticised by film director Ye Daying, the grandson of General Ye Ting. He wrote on his sina weibo: "The revolutionary history is seriously entertaining. It is a reproach and distortion of the revolutionary history." Ye Daying also sent an open letter to the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, which was signed by more than 25 revolutionary successors, many of them are generations of higher military officials. They demanded an apology to their family from the producer.
The page of the film on Douban, the leading film review website in China, has forbidden any rating or comment by its users since July 2017.

Asian Release

This film was only released in south-east asia within Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, and Estonia before the Asean international film exhibit.

Awards and nominations