The Beginning of a Great Revival

The Beginning of a Great Revival (2011)

  • 25% of critics liked it
    (8 reviews)

  • 30% of users liked it
    (246 ratings)

Beginning of the Great Revival, known as The Founding of a Party in China and a companion piece to 2009's blockbuster The Founding of a Republic, details the historic events surrounding what is referred to as the Chinese Revolution, the period from 1911 to 1921, when Sun Yat-sen overthrew the… More

Unrated,
Directed By
,
Genres
Documentary, Drama
In Theaters
Jun 24, 2011 Limited
China Lion Film

Critic Reviews

  • Andy Webster, New York Times

    "Revival" is a proud statement by an ascendant society. But it demonstrates that mainstream Chinese cinema can be as guilty of self-indulgent overstatement as anything out of the West.

  • Maggie Lee, Hollywood Reporter

    The highly-charged crowd scenes in which dissidents clash with authorities are staged with visual flair, conveying an exhilarating sense of self-empowerment which is the essence of revolution.

  • Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times

    "Great Revival" is in many ways the very definition of propaganda - it even ends with an image of a waving flag - but "Revival" is too harmlessly flabby to be taken quite that seriously.

  • John Hartl, Seattle Times

    Perhaps the translation is at fault here, but why does the dialogue consistently do so little to flesh out the characters?

  • Marsha McCreadie, Film Journal International

    History of Chinese Communism drowns in data.

Read all 8 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

  • Chihoe H


    Boasting quite the big name cast in East Asian cinema is about the only thing great about "The Beginning of a Great Revival". Even though the content and message is blatant propaganda, this film will be of interest to huge history buffs that know their stuff. It quickly… More

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