''1911'' (, also known as ''Xinhai Revolution'' and ''The 1911 Revolution''), is a 2011 Chinese historical drama film about the 1911 Revolution in China, produced to commemorate the revolution's 100th anniversary. Directed by

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...

and Zhang Li, the film stars Chan in his 100th film as an actor, alongside an ensemble cast that includes

Winston Chao Winston Chao Wen-hsuan (born 9 June 1960) is a Taiwanese actor. He came to international attention for his performance in the 1993 film ''The Wedding Banquet'' and ''Kabali''. He is also known for his roles in '' Red Rose White Rose'' and ''Eat ...

Li Bingbing Li Bingbing (; born 27 February 1973) is a Chinese actress and singer who rose to fame with her role in '' Seventeen Years'' (1999) and since then received critical acclaim for her roles in ''A World Without Thieves'' (2004), '' Waiting Alone'' (2 ...

Joan Chen Joan Chen (born April 26, 1961) is a Chinese-American actress and film director. In China, she performed in the 1979 film and came to the attention of American audiences for her performance in the 1987 film '' The Last Emperor''. She is also ...

Hu Ge Hu Ge (, born 20 September 1982), also known as Hugh Hu, is a Chinese actor and singer. While studying at the Shanghai Theater Academy, he was invited to play the leading role Li Xiaoyao in the 2005 television series '' Chinese Paladin'', an ...

, and Chan's son

Jaycee Chan Jaycee Joming Chan (, born 3 December 1982), known professionally as Jaycee Chan, is an American singer and actor. In 2004, he released his first Mandarin CD album in Hong Kong. He later went to Taiwan to continue his music career. He is the son o ...

. It was released on 23 September 2011 in mainland China and on 29 September in Hong Kong; it also opened on the 24th

Tokyo International Film Festival The is a film festival established in 1985. The event was held biennially from 1985 to 1991 and annually thereafter. Along with the Shanghai International Film Festival, it is one of Asia's competitive film festivals, and is considered to be the ...

later in October. ''1911'' received mainly negative reviews from Western film critics, who criticized its unengaging propagandistic depiction of the revolution but commended its cinematography.

Plot

The story follows key events of the 1911 Revolution, with a focus on

Huang Xing Huang Xing or Huang Hsing (; 25 October 1874 – 31 October 1916) was a Chinese revolutionary leader and politician, and the first commander-in-chief of the Republic of China. As one of the founders of the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Republic o ...

and Sun Yat-sen. It begins with the

Wuchang Uprising The Wuchang Uprising was an armed rebellion against the ruling Qing dynasty that took place in Wuchang (now Wuchang District of Wuhan), Hubei, China on 10 October 1911, beginning the Xinhai Revolution that successfully overthrew China's last ...

of 1911 and follows through historical events such as the

Second Guangzhou Uprising The Second Guangzhou (Canton) Uprising, known in Chinese as the Yellow Flower Mound Uprising or the Guangzhou Xinhai Uprising, was a failed uprising took place in China led by Huang Xing and his fellow revolutionaries against the Qing dynasty i ...

on 27 April 1911, the deaths of the 72 martyrs, the election of Sun Yat-sen as the provisional president of the new Provisional Republic of China, the abdication of the last

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

emperor

Puyi Aisin-Gioro Puyi (; 7 February 1906 – 17 October 1967), courtesy name Yaozhi (曜之), was the last emperor of China as the eleventh and final Qing dynasty monarch. He became emperor at the age of two in 1908, but was forced to abdicate on 1 ...

on 12 February 1912, and

Yuan Shikai Yuan Shikai (; 16 September 1859 – 6 June 1916) was a Chinese military and government official who rose to power during the late Qing dynasty and eventually ended the Qing dynasty rule of China in 1912, later becoming the Emperor of China. H ...

becoming the new provisional president in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

on 10 March 1912.

Cast

as revolutionary

as Sun Yat-sen *

as Xu Zonghan *Sun Chun as

as *

Lin Juemin Lin Juemin (; 1887–1911) was a late Qing dynasty revolutionary. Biography In 1907, Lin traveled to Japan to study at Keio University, where he joined Dr. Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary group, the Tongmenghui. Lin attempted to begin a popular revo ...

*Yu Shaoqun as

Wang Jingwei Wang Jingwei (4 May 1883 – 10 November 1944), born as Wang Zhaoming and widely known by his pen name Jingwei, was a Chinese politician. He was initially a member of the left wing of the Kuomintang, leading a government in Wuhan in oppositi ...

Empress Dowager Longyu Jingfen (; 28 January 1868 – 22 February 1913), of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner Yehe Nara clan, was the wife and empress consort of Zaitian, the Guangxu Emperor. She was Empress consort of Qing from 1889 until her husband's death in ...

*Huang Zhizhong as *

Jiang Wu Jiang Wu (born 4 November 1967) is a Chinese actor. He starred in Zhang Yimou's '' To Live'' (1994), and Zhang Yang's ''Shower'' (1999). He is the younger brother of Jiang Wen and is or was a member of the Beijing Experimental Theatre Troupe. ...

Li Yuanhong Li Yuanhong (; courtesy name Songqing 宋卿) (October 19, 1864 – June 3, 1928) was a Chinese politician during the Qing dynasty and the Republic of China. He was the president of the Republic of China between 1916 and 1917, and between 1922 ...

Ning Jing Ning Jing (; born April 27, 1972) is a Chinese actress and singer. She is best known for playing Milan in ''In the Heat of the Sun'' (1994), Danzhu in '' Red River Valley'' (1997), Angel in '' Lover's Grief over the Yellow River'' (1999) and Emp ...

Qiu Jin Qiu Jin (; 8 November 1875 – 15 July 1907) was a Chinese revolutionary, feminist, and writer. Her courtesy names are Xuanqing () and Jingxiong (). Her sobriquet name is Jianhu Nüxia (). Qiu was executed after a failed uprising against the Qi ...

Jiang Wenli Jiang Wenli (, born 20 June 1969) is a Chinese actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. A native of Tianjin, she graduated from the Beijing Film Academy in 1992. Li ranked 52nd on ''Forbes'' China Celebrity 100 list in 2014. Early life Ji ...

Soong Ching-ling Rosamond Soong Ch'ing-ling (27 January 189329 May 1981) was a Chinese political figure. As the third wife of Sun Yat-sen, then Premier of the Kuomintang and President of the Republic of China, she was often referred to as Madame Sun Yat-sen. ...

Mei Ting Mei Ting (Chinese: 梅婷, born 30 April 1975) is a Chinese actress. She received the Best Actress awards at the 22nd Cairo International Film Festival and 5th Huabiao Awards for her performance in "A Time to Remember". Early life In the 1980s, ...

as Chen Yiying *Xing Jiadong as

Song Jiaoren Song Jiaoren (, ; Given name at birth: Liàn 鍊; Courtesy name: Dùnchū 鈍初) (5 April 1882 – 22 March 1913) was a Chinese republican revolutionary, political leader and a founder of the Kuomintang (KMT). Song Jiaoren led the KMT to elec ...

Wei Zongwan Wei Zongwan (; born 24 November 1938) is a Chinese actor. He has been acting since the 1980s and has appeared in over 70 films and television shows. He has won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in '' San Mao Joins t ...

as Aisin-Gioro Yikuang *Hu Ming as

Liao Zhongkai Liao Zhongkai (April 23, 1877 – August 20, 1925) was a Chinese-American Kuomintang leader and financier. He was the principal architect of the first Kuomintang–Chinese Communist Party (KMT–CCP) United Front in the 1920s. He was assassina ...

*Iva Law as Consort Jin *Huo Qing as *Qi Dao as *

Dennis To Dennis To Yu-hang (born 1 January 1981) is a Hong Kong martial artist and actor. He started his career as a wushu practitioner and won several awards at various competitions, including a silver medal at the 2002 Asian Games and a gold medal at ...

as *Tao Zeru as Tang Weiyong *

Wang Ziwen Wang Ziwen (, born 28 February 1987), also known by her English name Olivia Wang and now as Ava Wang, is a Chinese actress. She is most known for portraying Qu Xiaoxiao in the popular Chinese television drama ''Ode to Joy'' and as Xuxu in ''When ...

as Tang Manrou *Ye Daying as

Wu Tingfang Wu Ting-fang (; 30 July 184223 June 1922) was a diplomat and politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and briefly as Acting Premier during the early years of the Republic of China. He was also known as Ng Choy or Ng Achoy (). Ed ...

*Chen Yiheng as

Xu Shichang Xu Shichang (Hsu Shih-chang; ; courtesy name: Juren (Chu-jen; 菊人); October 20, 1855 – June 5, 1939) was the President of the Republic of China, in Beijing, from 10 October 1918 to 2 June 1922. The only permanent president of the Beiyang ...

* Tobgyal (Duobujie) as

Feng Guozhang Feng Guozhang, (; courtesy: Huafu 華甫 or 華符) (January 7, 1859 – December 12, 1919) was a Chinese general and politician in early republican China. He held the office of Vice-President and then President of the Republic of China. He is ...

*Zhang Zhijian as

Lin Sen Lin Sen (; 16 March 1868 – 1 August 1943), courtesy name Tze-chao (子超), sobriquet Chang-jen (長仁), was a Chinese politician who served as Chairman of the National Government of the Republic of China from 1931 until his death. Early l ...

*Xie Gang as

Tang Shaoyi Tang Shaoyi (; 2 January 1862 – 30 September 1938), also spelled Tong Shao Yi, courtesy name Shaochuan (), was a Chinese statesman who briefly served as the first Premier of the Republic of China in 1912. In 1938, he was assassinated by the ...

*Liu Zitian as

Hu Hanmin Hu Hanmin (; born in Panyu, Guangdong, Qing dynasty, China, 9 December 1879 – Kwangtung, Republic of China, 12 May 1936) was a Chinese philosopher and politician who was one of the early conservative right factional leaders in the Kuomintang ...

*Sun Jingji as Yu Peilun *Michael Lacidonia as

Homer Lea Homer Lea (November 17, 1876 – November 1, 1912) was an American adventurer, author and geopolitical strategist. He is today best known for his involvement with Chinese reform and revolutionary movements in the early twentieth century and as ...

*Gao Bin as

Cai Yuanpei Cai Yuanpei (; 1868–1940) was a Chinese philosopher and politician who was an influential figure in the history of Chinese modern education. He made contributions to education reform with his own education ideology. He was the president of Pek ...

*Wang Wang as

Chen Qimei Chen Qimei (; 17 January 1878 – 18 May 1916), courtesy name Yingshi (英世) was a Chinese revolutionary activist and key figure of Green Gang, close political ally of Sun Yat-sen, and early mentor of Chiang Kai-shek. He was as one of the found ...

*Zhao Yaodong as

Zhang Taiyan Zhang Binglin (January 12, 1869 – June 14, 1936), also known by his art name Zhang Taiyan, was a Chinese philologist, textual critic, philosopher, and revolutionary. His philological works include ''Wen Shi'' (文始 "The Origin of Writing"), t ...

*Jia Hongwei as *Su Hanye as Aisin-Gioro Puyi *Nan Kai as *Tong Jun as *Jiang Jing as Yuan Shikai's concubine *Wang Weiwei as Yuan Shikai's concubine *Wang Luyao as Yuan Shikai's concubine *

Simon Dutton Simon Dutton (born 1 January 1958) is an English actor,The New York Times
best known for play ...

as John Jordan *He Xiang as

Fang Shengdong Fang Shengdong (; 1886–1911) was a late Qing dynasty revolutionary, He was killed during the Second Guangzhou Uprising The Second Guangzhou (Canton) Uprising, known in Chinese as the Yellow Flower Mound Uprising or the Guangzhou Xinhai Upri ...

*Lan Haoyu as *Xu Ning as Chen Gengxin *Wei Xiaojun as Red Cross Society leader *Qin Xuan as Red Cross Society vice leader *He Qiang as Ju Zheng *Ma Yan as *Wang Ya'nan as Yuan Keding *Zhang Xiaolin as *Lü Yang as *Tan Zengwei as *Jack as Yubei'er *Li Dongxue as

Zaifeng Zaifeng (12 February 1883 – 3 February 1951), also known as Tsai Feng, Prince of Ch'ün, formally known by his title Prince Chun, was a Manchu prince and regent of the late Qing dynasty. He was a son of Yixuan, the seventh son of the Da ...

*Liu Guohua as Qing assassin *Wang Kan as *Xu Wenguang as Zhang Mingqi *Zuo Zhaohe as Zheng Kun *Wang Jingfeng as * James Lee Guy as the American representative *Maxiu as British representative *Canwu as the German representative *Duluye as French representative *Attarian as French representative

Production

Production started on 29 September 2010 in Fuxin, Liaoning, where a camera rolling ceremony was held. After half a year of intense production, it wrapped up on 20 March 2011 in

Sanya Sanya (; also spelled Samah) is the southernmost city on Hainan Island, and one of the four prefecture-level cities of Hainan Province in South China. According to the 2020 census, the total population of Sanya was 1,031,396 inhabitants, li ...

Hainan Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly l ...

. It is Taiwanese actor

's fifth portrayal of Chinese nationalist Sun Yat-sen, after the films ''

The Soong Sisters The Soong sisters () were Soong Ai-ling, Soong Ching-ling, and Soong Mei-ling, three Shanghainese (of Hakka descent) Christian Chinese women who were, along with their husbands, amongst China's most significant political figures of the early 20 ...

'' (1997) and ''

Road to Dawn ''Road to Dawn'' () is a 2007 Chinese historical film directed by Hong Kong filmmakeDerek Chiu The film depicts an obscure episode in Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary life, when he sought refuge in Penang from July to December 1910. He relocated the S ...

'' (2007), and the television series ''Sun Zhongshan'' (2001) and ''Tie jian dan daoyi'' (2009).

Release

''1911'' was released on 23 September 2011 in China and on 29 September 2011 in Hong Kong. It opened the 24th

on 22 October 2011. It was released in its original version in North American theatres on 7 October 2011. The film was unable to be released in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

as it failed to meet the country's yearly 10-film quota on mainland China imports.

Box office

The film earned RMB18.1 million on its opening weekend in China. In Hong Kong, it earned only HK$1.0 million during its first six days in theaters.

Critical response

''1911'' received generally negative reviews from Western film critics; it holds rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which uses an average of critics' reviews, it holds 37 out of 100, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews, e.g. on the Opionator. Maggie Lee of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

'' largely criticized the film's "insipid, poorly structured screenplay", and wrote: "A mainland Chinese propaganda vehicle through and through, the film postulates history in such a scrappy, inaccessible manner that either as entertainment or education, it's a lost cause." Rachel Saltz of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' described the film as "overly faithful" to being a commemorative work that honors the 1911 revolution, approaching the event "like a great, bloody historical pageant"; she concluded that despite its "excellent" cinematography and engaging early battle scenes, ''1911'' "remains a kind of lavishly illustrated history lesson." Stephen Cole of ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' gave the film two out of four stars, criticizing its dour propagandistic depiction of the revolution, stating that " ackieChan’s film may be about a war and revolution staged in 1911, but it should feel like it was made in 2011. ..If all his work was as solemn as ''1911'', he would never have made 100 movies." Derek Elly of the now-defunct '' Film Business Asia'' gave ''1911'' a five out of ten, criticizing it overall as "routine" and "unengaging" with its actors' performances "lack ngany kind of spark", and unfavorably compared the film to ''

The Founding of a Republic ''The Founding of a Republic'' is a Chinese historical drama produced in 2009 to mark the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China and was made to portray the final years of the Chinese Communist Revolution that followed the end of the ...

'' and ''

The Founding of a Party ''The Founding of a Party'', alternatively titled in English ''Beginning of the Great Revival'' for its international release,Patrick Frater, 21 May 2011Party becomes Revival for int'l release, Film Business Asia is a Chinese propaganda film relea ...

''. However, Elly considered the film's cinematography to be worthy of praise. ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...

'' noted that while the film was endorsed by the Chinese government officials, ticket sales have been poor. It also noted that the film avoided sensitive topics, such as the reforms which led to the revolution.

References

External links

* (Asia)
Official website
(English) * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:1911 2011 films Works about the 1911 Revolution 2010s historical drama films 2011 drama films 2010s Cantonese-language films Chinese historical drama films Cultural depictions of Puyi Cultural depictions of Sun Yat-sen Films directed by Jackie Chan Films set in 1911 Films set in 20th-century Qing dynasty Films shot in China Hong Kong drama films Hong Kong historical films Variance Films films 2010s Hong Kong films