''72 Heroes'' is a

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

historical drama film A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romances, adventure films, and swas ...

directed by Hong Kong film director Derek Chiu, better known as Sung Kee Chiu, based on the story of the 72 Martyrs who sacrificed their lives in 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 ...

Plot

The film takes place in

Huizhou, Guangdong Huizhou ( zh, c= ) is a city in central-east Guangdong Province, China, forty-three miles north of Hong Kong. Huizhou borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the west, Shenzhen and Dongguan to the southwest, Shaoguan to the north, Heyu ...

, China, October 1900. After failing to assassinate the governor-general by blowing up his mansion as part of the anti-Manchu Huizhou Uprising, revolutionary Shi Jianru is captured and executed.

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

, Guangdong province, 1911: following other unsuccessful uprisings, Pan Dawei, deputy head of the Guangzhou department of the

Tongmenghui The Tongmenghui of China (or T'ung-meng Hui, variously translated as Chinese United League, United League, Chinese Revolutionary Alliance, Chinese Alliance, United Allegiance Society, ) was a secret society and underground resistance movement ...

, arrives by boat and smuggles weapons past customs officers. During a dinner party at the house of wealthy local trader Fang Hongzhi, head of the Guangxing business association, there is an assassination attempt on the Manchu Qing government's Marine Minister Li Zhun, which fails. Among the guests is Luo Zhonghuo, just arrived from Penang, Malaysia, who gets to know Fang's daughter, Huiru, also a revolutionary. Afterwards she takes him to the house of painter Gao Jianfu, head of the Tongmenghui's Guangzhou department. Zhonghuo is carrying a letter from

leader

Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...

, but neither Jianfu nor Dawei are sure whether he is a spy. To convince them he is genuine, Huiru suggests he tries raising some money for the movement from her father, by first becoming friendly with his cultured longtime mistress Jiang Meixi. Zhonghuo becomes Meixi's English tutor and helps Fang in getting a local gang off of the Guangxing's turf. As Chinese New Year arrives, Gao and Pan plan a mass suicide attack on the governor-general's residence - in what will become known as the

of 27 April 1911.

Cast

Liu Kai-chi Dick Liu Kai-chi (, 30 September 1953 – 28 March 2021) was a Hong Kong actor, best known for his everyman supporting roles. His career spanned over 40 years, with appearances in over 90 television series and 70 films. He earned eight nomina ...

as Gao Jianfu *

Tse Kwan-ho Tse Kwan-ho (born 23 March 1963) is a Hong Kong actor, professionally also known as Gardner Tse. Originally a nurse, Tse Kwan-ho rose to prominence in the stage play ''The Mad Phoenix'' (), this was later remade into a feature film of the sam ...

as Pan Dawei *

Irene Wan Irene Wan Bik-ha (born Wen Bik-ha on 30 July 1966) is a Hong Kong actress, singer and producer. Her father was an officer of the Republic of China Army. In her early years, she was known as a "sexy beauty". After her marriage, Wan faded out of ...

as Jiang Meixi *

Elanne Kong Elanne Kong (, born 30 September 1987) is a Hong Kong actress and singer. On 15 May 2020, she announced that she was changing her stage name from Elanne Kwong Yeuk-lam () to Elanne Kwong Yee-ching (). On 11 September 2021, she announced that she c ...

as Fang Huiru *Wang Jiancheng as Fang Hongzhi *Zhao Bingrui as Luo Zhonghan *

Eric Tsang Eric Tsang Chi-wai (; born 14 April 1953) is a Hong Kong actor, film director, producer, and television host, best known for hosting the variety show ''Super Trio series'' on the Hong Kong television network TVB over 18 years. He currently holds ...

as Li Zhi *

Alan Tam Alan Tam Wing-lun MH (; born 23 August 1950) is a Hong Kong singer and actor. He played a major role in developing the Cantopop scene in the 1980s as he was known for singing romantic ballads with modern arrangements. From 1983 to 1987, Alan Tam ...

as Hunag Ying *Oh U Jeong as Fang's female bodyguard *Li Zhi *Zhang Yang *Wu Jian as A Hui *

Bosco Wong Bosco Wong Chung-chak (; born 13 December 1980) is a Hong Kong actor, singer, and entrepreneur who gained popularity in the modern drama ''Triumph in the Skies'' (2003). Since then, he has played a diverse spectrum of roles in television ser ...

Raymond Lam Raymond Lam (; Jyutping: lam4 fung1; born 8 December 1979) is a Hong Kong actor and singer who is best known for roles in the television dramas ''A Step into the Past'', ''Twin of Brothers'', ''Moonlight Resonance'', ''Highs and Lows'' and ''Line W ...

External links

* *
72 Heroes
' at

Hong Kong Cinemagic Hong Kong Cinemagic, sometimes referred to as HKCinemagic, is a bilingual ( French and English) website providing a repository for information about Chinese language films from Hong Kong, China and Taiwan, and the people who created them. The websi ...

*{{IMDb title, 2471242 2011 films 2010s historical drama films Works about the 1911 Revolution Films set in 1900 Films set in 1911 Films set in Guangdong Films shot in China Chinese historical drama films Films set in 20th-century Qing dynasty 2011 drama films 2010s Mandarin-language films

Plot

Cast

See also

External links